Lawmaker says Arizona's situation "odd and unwieldy" 

Last month's election brought cyclical changes to most levels of state government, but the presidential election results have had an extraordinary, reverberating impact on Arizona's political scene.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Janet Napolitano could be headed to Washington to run the Department of Homeland Security, another Democratic congressman is rumored to be President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of the interior, and the minority party now holds fewer seats in both chambers of the state Legislature.

For Republicans, Sen. John McCain has decided to seek another bid in the Senate after losing the presidential election, Secretary of State Jan Brewer is poised to take over as governor, and the party's state House and Senate leadership has changed wholesale since last session.

For methodical state lawmakers such as Sen. Jim Waring, a Republican from Phoenix, it's not an ideal situation.

"I can tell you from a legislator's perspective, this whole thing is a very odd and unwieldy situation," said Waring, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

"You've got a governor who is not going to be governor, but it's going to be her budget that we are fixing. And we are going to fix part of it while she is here. But she is actually going to be preparing for some other job on the other side of the country.

"You know how I tried to be prepared in advance, right? Well, how am I supposed to do that this time?" Waring asked.

And it gets more difficult for state Republicans, who have two sets of leaders in the House and Senate – those who will keep their leadership positions until the end of the year, and those who will take over in January.

Lawmakers have two budgets deficits to close: this year's and next year's. So, which leaders do they turn to for guidance?

Beyond that, some Senate staff members will be crossing over to the House, and vice versa.

Waring said he has been working with Senate staff to draft bills for the upcoming session, but those staff members are going to be working in the state House in a couple months. So, Waring and others will be dealing with different staff members to shepherd those bills through the process.

For someone who likes to be "over-prepared," it's a little hard to prepare, Waring said.