Speaker of the House designee Jim Weiers announced Dec. 29 what responsibilities each of the Appropriations committees will have when formulating the 2006 budget.

Appropriations B, chaired by Rep. Tom Boone, R-4, will primarily be responsible for health care issues. The committee will oversee the budgets of, among other things, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and the Department of Health Services.

The committee’s responsibilities will also include the licensing boards for Arizona health care providers, including the Arizona Medical Board, the State Board of Nursing and the State Board of Psychologist Examiners.

Appropriations B is also charged with designing a budget for the state’s single largest expenditure: K-12 education. Last year, nearly $3.2 billion of the state’s roughly $7.3 billion budget was spent on education. There will likely be a battle over funding for implementing the state-funded all-day kindergarten classes that were approved last year. An interim committee recommended fiscal year 2006 be the first in a five-year phase in of funding.

Appropriations P, chaired by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-18, will preside over the budgets of all three branches of Arizona government. The committee will oversee the judiciary, the governor’s office and both the House of Representatives and the Senate, in addition to the Legislative Council, Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting.

In addition to the courts, Mr. Pearce’s committee will also design budgets for other law enforcement and legal entities, including the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, the Office of the Attorney General and the Secretary of State.

Higher education — namely, the universities and community colleges — also fall under Appropriations P’s scope, as do state employees. In the fall, an interim committee recommended an across-the-board pay increase to state employees totaling nearly $70 million.

“The division of agencies between the two committees plays to the strengths of each of committee’s chairmen,” Mr. Weiers said. “Representative Pearce’s long career and in-depth knowledge of law enforcement and judicial issues will serve him well as he helps us build a responsible budget. Representative Boone’s experience within state government as an auditor and his years working in schools will help him tackle a wide range of issues. In this case, two is twice as good.”—