Caucus leaders have decided to hear a budget bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, a negotiator has told the Arizona Capitol Times.

The move represents a change in strategy, and reflects a frustration at the sluggish pace of the negotiation over the budget for fiscal year 2008.

The state faces nearly a $1 billion in deficit.

The proposal will incorporate items that the negotiators have so far gone over in the budget plan earlier forwarded by the appropriations chairmen of the two chambers, said Sen. Robert Burns, one of the chairmen.

The changes were significant, Burns said.

"We were frustrated by the slowness of the process," he said, adding it was just "agonizingly slow;"

Hence, the change in direction. Some members' dissatisfaction at the current "structure" also contributed to this decision, he said.

Burns said the two appropriations committees will meet separately. He expects the House to also hear its own budget bill next week. In the Senate, S1300 has been scheduled in the committee calendar apparently as a striker.

Burns said he envisions a suspension of other committee meetings so members can pay attention to the budget hearings and express their concerns to leadership.

They have a diagram or layout showing the major components of what needs to be done, he said. "For example, there needs to be in my opinion some major reductions in the spending. We have a withdrawal from the rainy day fund; we have the option to do a K-12 roll over; we have the option to do bonding; we have the option to insert revenue enhancements; and, there has been the proposal to do moratorium on K-12 construction," he said.

Some decisions, such as how much to withdraw from the rainy day fund, can be made quickly. But the reductions in spending will expectedly be more complicated, and therefore need more time, he said.

Burns said he has talked with the Rules Attorney about the hearing. The plan is to move the bill in committee, vote on amendments, but hold off having a final vote "until we've had however many meetings it takes to get us balanced."

"The goal is to get a balanced budget proposal approved by a majority of the committee," he said.

Burns said he envisions not just one but several appropriations hearings throughout the week because of the size of the problem. Committee members can offer amendments — not just suggestions, he also said.

"And then once we reach that point, then we would be voting a bill with those agreed upon changes out of the committee, and then it will go the full Senate to see if we can get agreement there," he said.

There would likely be small group meetings with lawmakers who are not members of the appropriations committees.

The House will likely come up with its own budget version. The two versions would have to be reconciled, he said.

"Then we have to talk to the governor to get a 'signable' version," he said.