Senate Republicans hope to develop an agenda to balance the budget in two years, work more closely with the House, Governor Napolitano and Democrats — and maybe even run a shorter session, its re-elected president says.

“We are on track per our three-year plan to get the structural deficit eliminated and get the budget back into balance,” said Sen. Ken Bennett, R-1, who was re-elected by his caucus as Senate president. “With the revenue growth that we’re seeing this year over last, I think there’s really going to be an opportunity to get that done.”

Mr. Bennett added, “We also recognize we’re going to have to work with the governor and with the minority caucus…”

The Republicans picked up a seat in the Senate when Jake Flake defeated Cameron Udall in Dist. 5. They also took a turn to the right as four House conservatives won election to the upper chamber.

The Democrats will hold 12 seats in the Senate, down from 13.

“It’s only one seat,” said Democratic Leader-Elect Linda Aguirre, D-16, “and we have established a good working relationship with the other side over the past four years, and I do not expect that to change.”

Senate Republicans said they will meet with their House counterparts to explore the possibility of passing a budget and completing the 2005 session in less time than this year’s 136-day effort, but Ms. Aguirre told her caucus Nov. 3 she doesn’t think that is possible.

“Don’t make vacation plans until July,” she said.

Mr. Bennett said his more conservative caucus can be “assertive” in pushing its priorities because of the departure of Republican liberals Linda Binder, R-3, who retired, and Slade Mead, R-20, who was defeated in the primary. Both supported increased spending for Ms. Napolitano’s education and social programs.

Sen.-elect Flake said the caucus’s top priority is balancing the budget.

“The opinion in there is fiscal responsibility,” said Mr. Flake as he was leaving the Nov. 3 caucus early to preside over the House Republican organizational caucus in his role as the departing speaker of the House.

Burns Wants Spending Restraint

Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Burns, R-9, said he will be looking for more restraint in state spending. “I hope that would be the case,” he said.

Mr. Burns said he planned to meet with the Joint Legislative Budget Committee staff right after the election and review revenue projections as well as the total of spending that is mandated by law.

He called the passage of Prop. 101 an important step toward controlling spending on future voter-mandated programs. Prop. 101, which was passed by a 10-percentage point margin, requires that initiatives or referendums that establish spending programs also specify sources of revenue for the programs that do not take existing money from the general fund.

Mr. Bennett said that in addition to the budget, priorities for the 2005 session will include water and trust land reform legislation.

He said the Legislature undoubtedly will be asked to continue the governor’s full-day kindergarten program. This year it approved $25 million to fund one year of voluntary full-day K in poor school districts and reserved the right to review the program.

The future of the program appears in doubt. With Sens. Binder and Mead gone, the GOP caucus has very few members who will line up without reservation. One Republican senator who describes herself as a “moderate,” Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-8, said she wants full-day K to continue because her district supports it, but added, “I was reluctant to vote for it because business wasn’t prepared to pay for it.”

Sen.-elect Linda Gray, R-10, says full-day K “doesn’t fix the dropout problem in high schools.” Ms. Gray, who comes to the Senate from the House, said she would rather see more funding for K-12 education.

Ms. Napolitano said Nov. 3 that she is optimistic about the upcoming session, despite the loss of most moderate Republicans who made the difference in passage of her programs, such as full-day K.

“I think predictions of gloom and doom are premature at best because I think the people of Arizona want these things, and I think they’re good for this state,” she said.

Wedge Issues

Ms. Gray and Mr. Flake told Arizona Capitol Times that the next session also should anticipate the introduction of “wedge issues” — measures that tend to divide lawmakers along social or religious lines.

One is same-sex marriage. Banning same-sex marriage was on the Nov. 2 ballot in 11 other states this year, and all 11 approved the ban, in some cases by large margins.

Ms. Gray said she expects the Legislature will see a resolution asking voters to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage (which already is prohibited by state law in ARS 25-101.C).

Another issue is whether to continue appointing judges or to return to the election system. In 1974, voters approved a constitutional amendment to replace elected judges with appointed judges on the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and the Superior Court in Maricopa and Pima counties. All other counties still elect their judges.

The appointment system has been criticized because its requirement that judges stand for retention at regular intervals seems such a rubber stamp. Of the hundreds who have been on the ballot over the years, only two have been rejected.

Other controversial legislation could include another bill on informed consent for abortion and statutory requirements for physicians who prescribe drugs for psychiatric disorders in children, senators-elect said.

The Legislature passed bills on both subjects last session and Ms. Napolitano vetoed both (S1077 and S1278).

“There will be some positioning to make sure the governor shows her stripes because she’s got an election coming in two years,” said Mr. Flake, who, like Mr. Bennett, has often clashed with Ms. Napolitano on budget and social issues.

Sen.-elect Ken Cheuvront, D-15, said he does not think legislative leadership would purposely put the governor on the spot with political or wedge-issue legislation.

“That assumes some kind of grand strategy,” he said, “and I’m not sure anyone has that kind of influence down here. Jim Weiers [the House speaker-elect] and Ken Bennett are not interested in playing those kinds of games.”

The governor told reporters, “I think the continued process of wedge issues doesn’t help move Arizona forward. We ought to have mutual goals. I will continue to do what I said I was going to do. I’ve never had the luxury of working with a Democrat Legislature or a Democratic administration in Washington. It’s basically the same lineup we had.”

Ms. Napolitano said Arizonans accept a Democrat governor and a Republican Legislature, “but they expect us to work together.”

Senate Leadership

Only one of the announced challenges to Senate leadership materialized in the caucus’s organizational meetings Nov. 3.

Sens. Thayer Verschoor, R-22, and Robert Blendu, R-12, withdrew their candidacies for president and majority leader, respectively, when, they said, it was apparent they did not have the votes to win. Sen. Tim Bee, R-30, was re-elected majority leader.

In the only contested race, Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-21, was elected majority whip in what was said to be a 10-8 vote over Sen.-elect John Huppenthal, R-20.

The Republicans met for nearly three hours at the Heard Museum.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, D-28, withdrew from the race for whip, and Sen. Richard Miranda, D-13, was elected to that post. Sen. Harry Mitchell, D-17 wa
s chosen assistant Democratic leader to Ms Aguirre in a 25-minute meeting at the Senate.

Mr. Verschoor said, “There are differences, but not divisions” among conservatives in the Republican caucus. “We have a lot more things in common and a great opportunity to work out those differences.”

Mr. Bennett said he will make committee and president pro-tem appointments within 30 days and that he might reorganize some committees and possibly create new ones.

Several senators said they’ve heard that the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee might undergo change, and Mr. Bennett told Arizona Capitol Times in an earlier interview he was considering creating a new committee to oversee the corrections system.

Flake, Udall Race

There were no real surprises in the general election for Senate. Some observers said Democrat Cameron Udall, with the support of Ms. Napolitano and a voter registration edge in District 5, might give Mr. Flake a close run, but that didn’t materialize.

Mr. Flake won by a large margin, 55 per cent to 45 per cent, but he said it was a tough campaign. “She threw everything but the kitchen sink at me,” he said.

Ms. Udall was conciliatory in her loss to Mr. Flake.

“I took on the most powerful man in Arizona politics, and I gave him a heck of a race,” she said. “I like him. He’ll do good for the state.” —

Reporter Barry Gartell contributed to this article.