Governor Napolitano sidestepped taking a position on a boycott of Wal-Mart stores as called for by a large labor union and the Arizona Education Association.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 and the AEA are asking buyers of school supplies to boycott Wal-Mart, based on recent reports showing that nearly 10 percent of all Wal-Mart workers in Arizona are getting their health benefits from AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid program.

Ms. Napolitano said Arizonans need to make up their own minds whether to boycott Wal-Mart, adding, “Issues about Wal-Mart are serious issues,” calling the situation the “offloading” of employees on the state.

But the governor said, “The bulk of those [workers on AHCCCS] are employed by small businesses, not by the Wal-Marts, or whatever, of the world. We are working on a number of ideas to deal with that issue. This is a national issue.”

Ms. Napolitano did not reveal what her office is working on in this regard.

Her comments came at a news briefing Aug. 10, where she also was asked why her picture is prominently displayed on billboards around the state promoting such things as tourism and emergency services.

“Well, I’m the governor,” she said. “If you drove around any state in the United States, you would find similar billboards. I’m the elected leader of the state. We want to advertise the state. That’s all there is to it.

“I’m the incumbent governor and I suspect in a political year everything I do, I will get the accusation, ‘Well, that’s political.’ ” —