Senate Republicans this week began meeting in small groups to flesh out concerns as they grapple with a $1.6 billion budget deficit.  

Senate President Bob Burns called it the "first step of face-to-face contacts."

"We have had all these preparations of this past week, trying to sort of lay out the big picture," Burns said, referring to the "budget summit" the Legislature held last week, when representatives of businesses and local governments were invited to share how they have been dealing with the economic crunch.  

"Now we are getting into the nuts and bolts," Burns said. "The bottom-line question is: Can you accept what we have in front of you, and if not, why not?"

Small-group meetings are not new and have been tried in the past. The idea is to break down the caucus into groups, get members' thoughts on a budget plan and discuss specific concerns. The ultimate goal is to get 16 people to agree on a budget. In these meetings, the Republican leadership and Appropriations chairmen sit down with members.

The first meeting occurred Jan. 20. There was the "expected thrashing about" by members during the meeting, Burns said without getting into details. He said it's typical during the first meeting.

"Even when you don't have a tough budget, there is a certain amount of questions," he said.

Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican from Mesa and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it's a matter of getting members "comfortable with what's in there."

"Bottom line is $1.6 billion is our problem," Pearce said. "If members want to move those numbers around with the limited options we have, I'm OK with that. I'm not married to any particular issue. What I'm married to is solving this budget problem."

During a caucus meeting Jan 20, Burns told members to focus on two items: Closing the $1.6 billion deficit in the fiscal year and keeping in mind that they don't much have time to do it.

Meanwhile, Senate committees also began reviewing government agencies this week. Under Burns' plan, the committees will take on the job of investigating or analyzing programs or agencies and then coming up with recommendations to the Appropriations Committee. Employing the Retain, Eliminate, Modify (REM) model, committees will look at programs to determine if funding should be adjusted.