There will not be a budget impasse in the state Senate next year, predicts one of the Republican senators who played pivotal roles in the lengthy and bitter fiscal 2004 budget battle.

“It will be easier because we’ll use a bipartisan approach from the get-go,” said Sen. Slade Mead, R-Dist. 20.

But as catalysts for a budget that finally picked up enough bipartisan support to pass the Senate, did Mr. Mead and Sen. Linda Binder, R-Dist. 3, cause a permanent rift in the current Republican caucus?

By holding out for additional appropriations for education and health care, Mr. Mead and Ms. Binder prevented Senate passage of the House-passed $6.2 billion budget, forcing Senate President Ken Bennett, R-Dist. 1, to negotiate with Democratic leaders. Those negotiations led to a larger $6.4 billion budget that included most of the spending requested by Mr. Mead and Ms. Binder. It passed the House and was signed by the governor.

“A lot of senators came up and thanked me,” Mr. Mead said. “I don’t feel there’s a problem.”

Sen. Marilyn Jarrett, R-Dist. 19, who as majority whip runs caucus meetings, sees it differently.

“It is going to take a tremendous effort to bring the caucus together as far as Mead is concerned,” she said. He relates better to the Governor’s Office and the Democrats. I don’t think it can be solved.”

The Mead-Binder protest against the House-passed budget, including their refusal to go to the floor for a scheduled debate and third reading on the budget, has a lingering effect on the caucus, Mr. Bennett said.

“There are some residual ongoing frustrations over that, but most people will eventually get over it,” he said. “There’s frustration over how things happened.”

Mr. Bennett said Mr. Mead and Ms. Binder didn’t always do what they said they were going to do.

“People will ask for more commitment” from them, he said.

Ms. Binder said she does feel alienated from the caucus.

“Everybody’s been cordial,” she said. “I love my fellow Republicans. We’re all politicians. We both made our stands for good reasons. We learned to be inclusive. You’ve got to include the governor. It’s all politics. You have your battles and you move on.”

Side Battle Brews

A side battle still brews between Mr. Mead and Mr. Bennett: Mr. Mead says that part of his bargain with Mr. Bennett for a yes vote on the budget was assurance the “Big Three” bills would get to the Senate floor.

The bills, all of which have since been signed by the governor, called for state funding of university research facilities and expansion of Phoenix Civic Plaza, as well as support of a county ballot measure to create a special taxing district to support Maricopa County Medical Center.

Mr. Mead said he wanted assurances from Mr. Bennett the bills would be forwarded by the Senate Appropriations and Finance committees.

“I was told they were in big trouble,” Mr. Mead said.

Mr. Bennett says he was in full support of the bills before Mr. Mead approached him about them.

“That’s revisionist history,” Mr. Mead said.

In an interview during budget negotiations, Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Dist. 8, told Arizona Capitol Times she thought the caucus would not hold any hard feelings against Ms. Binder, but that would not be the case for Mr. Mead, although he voted with Ms. Allen and other moderates to help pass contraceptive rights and other health care legislation.

Both Ms. Binder and Mr. Mead, who defeated veteran Lori Daniels in the 2002 primary, have taken their lumps from fellow Republicans.

“If he wants our future support,” Maricopa County Republican Committee Chairman Tom Liddy told the East Valley Tribune, “he’s going to have to talk to his caucus and meet with us.”

At one point in the past legislative session, House Majority Leader Eddie Farnsworth, R-Dist. 22, held up Binder-sponsored bills in retaliation for her votes against bills on the GOP’s priority agenda, and Speaker Pro Tem Bob Robson, R-Dist. 20, said Mr. Mead was pro-Democrat.

“During the campaign, it was brought out by his opponent that he actually was a Democrat despite his party affiliation,” Robson told the East Valley Tribune. “Now, we’ve been down here for over 100 and some odd days, and from the issues affecting us, I think it would be safe to say he has leanings in [that] direction.”

Mr. Mead, in a July 1 interview with Arizona Capitol Times, said he “wasn’t planning on” changing his party affiliation and has not been approached by Democrats to do so.

Sen. Bob Burns, R-Dist. 9, and Mr. Farnsworth have not been as optimistic as Mr. Mead about the 2005 budget process, saying Governor Napolitano’s line item vetoes will cause a $600 million deficit. Mr. Burns says the 2004 budget was a “cakewalk” compared with what lies ahead next year.

During the past legislation session, Mr. Burns, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, appointed Mr. Mead and Senate Minority Whip Pete Rios, D-Dist. 23, as a special subcommittee to come up with ideas to generate an additional $1 billion for the state, the projected deficit at the time.

The two senators said they worked well together in coming up with ways to raise the revenue, and one of their proposals, a 2 per cent premium tax on AHCCCS health plans, was passed and signed by the governor.

During the 2004 budget impasse in the Senate, Mr. Rios was asked if he’s like to see Mr. Mead become a Democrat.

“No, we like him right where he is,” Mr. Rios said. —