The $650 million or so in Arizona’s rainy day fund remains intact, for now.
A proposal to take $450 million out of that fund and put it into the Statewide Transportation Acceleration Needs (STAN Account) was defeated during Senate deliberations Feb. 8.
All Democrats present and four Republicans voted down S1159.
“The bill is dead at this point, but session is not over for quite a while yet. So we’ll have to see what comes up next,” said Sen. Robert Burns, R-9, its author.
“What would have to happen is it would have to be an amendment on another bill at some point, I suppose,” he said.
The main argument against the proposal was that it would take money from a fund that is intended for use only when the state experiences a sharp economic downturn or an emergency.
Those who backed said an immediate need exists to fund transportation projects now. The way supporters described the situation, the state is nearing an emergency, if it’s not already in one.
Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-8, one of the Republicans who blocked the bill, said $450 million would not be enough to address the state’s transportations needs and that it would only take money from a fund that is meant for something else.
“The Rainy Day fund is not going to make much difference in our transportation needs,” she said.

Allen and Senators Barbara Leff, R-11 Tom O’Halleran, R-1, and Jay Tibshraeny, R-21, joined the Democrats in defeating the proposal.
“This is truly an emergency,” Senate majority whip John Huppenthal told his colleagues during the floor debates.

Majority leader Thayer Verschoor said he would have liked to see the idea remain on the table, as one of many options that would need lawmakers’ consideration.

“This is part of that comprehensive discussion… on the transportation needs,” he said.

Burns said using the fund to build roads would have been a “very legitimate” use of it. His proposal does not drain the fun, he said, adding that some portion of the money poured into construction would come back to the state in the form of taxes.

“When the economy is strong, the tax revenue flow is strong,” he said.
Burns, who strongly opposed extending the maturity of bonds to fund highway construction, hinted he is open to negotiation on the subject.
“Why not do it $850 million, instead of $450 million?” he said. The bigger figure is derived by adding Burn’s $450 million and Gov. Napolitano’s $400 million, which would be generated by extending the maturity of highway bonds from 20 to 30 years.
Asked if he could vote for that, Burns said he thinks he could.
“I voted against it in committee based on my concerns of the debt but you know if we’re going to talk about debt, and you take it individually, case by case, debt to build road is, you know, probably one of the more legitimate uses of debt out there,” he said.
Asked if he were open to negotiate on this subject—meaning he considering the governor’s proposal with the Democrats also reconsidering his measure—Burns said:
“That’s how we get things done around here.”