Republican leaders made public their joint House-Senate majority program, which includes goals of eliminating the budget deficit, reforming certain taxes, finding reasons for recent growth in AHCCCS enrollment and developing legislation to support traditional marriage.

The program, which also seeks ways to make higher education more affordable and calls for medical malpractice reforms, was presented to reporters Jan. 5 by the Legislature’s majority leaders, Sen. Tim Bee, R-30, and Rep. Steve Tully, R-11, who are in charge of policy development for their caucuses.

Mr. Bee said the election of more conservative legislators last year should bode well for the majority’s program.

“There’s no question we both have very strong Republican caucuses that will be working closely together, and we hope to be very successful with some of our legislation,” Mr. Bee said.

Fifty-six Republicans will take office in the Legislature on Jan. 10, and Mr. Tully cautioned there are “56 visions [in the party] as to what the state should do on any particular issue. We’ll have to have consensus on the issues and not pre-deliver votes on the first day before the session starts.”

Eliminating Structural Deficit

Elimination of the structural budget deficit — the fixed expense of running government over the amount of annual revenue — is the Republicans’ top priority, Mr. Bee said.

“That rose to the top of the most important things to deal with in regards to the budget this session,” he said. The Legislature this year begins the third year of a three-year plan to eliminate the deficit, but the size of the gap has not been determined, Mr. Tully said.

“The number is relatively fluid right now,” he said. Recent estimates have put the deficit between $120 million and $240 million.

AHCCCS Enrollment

An enrollment growth of 35,000 on the AHCCCS rolls over the past six months has legislators concerned, but before the next budget can be finalized, the root causes for the growth, which hasn’t leveled off, must be determined, Mr. Tully said.

The agency, which says some of the growth has come from working poor, has indicated it might need a $60 million supplemental appropriation for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“We’re hoping that early on in this session we’ll have some hearings to get at the root cause of this spike because without that, we can’t get control of the budget,” he said.

The Republican goals include minimizing borrowing to finance school construction.

“We’ve been using that tool for a number of years and, long-term, the members of our caucuses believe that creates too much debt for the state, and we’d like to see either caps for that or a phase-out, reverting to some cash method to pay for that,” Mr. Bee said.

Business Taxes

The Republicans plan to introduce legislation that ensures “all businesses and individuals in Arizona are treated fairly,” a handout states. “In that regard, we will seek to reduce the business property tax rate to make it more equitable with the residential rate, without shifting any additional burden to Arizona homeowners.”

Mr. Tully said tax reform will have to be done in steps.

“The more tax things you move, the more resistance you find,” he said. “If we can do one piece of it this year and one piece next year, then that’s great. When you try to change a whole system of law . . . the world kind of comes down on you.”

Higher Education

The leaders also expressed a need to keep higher education affordable, although their program did not include specific legislation to meet majority goals.

“The reason the emphasis has come up on students is that we’ve seen an increase in tuition,” Mr. Bee said. “We have seen additional student aid, and there’s concern about the middle class, whether higher education will be affordable to them.

“I think the reason you’re seeing that interest from the caucuses is — as all this research moves forward, as restructuring of the universities moves forward — so that we don’t lose sight of the mission of student education.”

Mr. Bee said extension of full-day kindergarten was discussed, but because of a wide range of views among Republicans, it was not listed among majority priorities.

The leaders said there likely will be several bills dealing with same-sex marriage, ranging from a proposed constitutional amendment to ban it to bills prohibiting civil unions for gays and benefits for domestic partners.

Same-sex marriage “will be debated throughout the session,” Mr. Bee said, and Mr. Tully said Republicans are concerned about same-sex marriage despite state law that prohibits it.

“There’s a concern that a court — either a federal court or a higher state court that has addressed the issue — might interpret either the state or the federal Constitution so as to overturn that law.”

The other items on the Republican agenda are:

• School choice.

• Long-term water planning and management policies.

• Adequate funding for public safety.

• Strengthen identity theft protections.

• Strengthen penalties for human trafficking.

• Policies to encourage adoption of children.

Senate Democratic Leader Linda Aguirre says her party will put out a minority program as well.

“We’re going to develop our own agenda,” she said. “We’ll be meeting with her [Governor Napolitano] and going over what her agenda is going to be. I’m sure they’re going to mirror.

“Our agenda has been pretty much the same — focus on education and health care for the elderly,” Ms. Aguirre said. —