During a Jan. 30 floor debate, Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, a Democrat from Tempe, appears resigned to Republican-led cuts to schools and universities in the 2009 budget.

As legislative committees set their sights on solving what could be a $3 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year, lawmakers in the House and Senate are still tinkering with measures passed last week that closed a gap in this year’s budget.
The Senate is considering revisions to the fiscal 2009 budget bills passed on Jan. 31, because some of the dedicated funds that were being redirected into the state’s general fund may not have as much money available to be swept as lawmakers thought.
And House Republicans are preparing a measure that could restore a small amount of the funding that was cut when lawmakers passed a budget fix to close a $1.6 billion gap.
The House proposal, which is scheduled to appear as a strike-everything amendment in the Government Committee on Feb. 10, would take $20 million from a fund designed to combat urban sprawl approved by voters and instead use it to backfill cuts made to state parks, conservation and environmental programs.
The cuts had prompted the State Parks Board to announce it would consider closing eight parks and lay off the employees that work in them.
“We’re hoping that, with this backfill, they’ll be able to keep some of those parks open and people can continue to enjoy them,” said Rep. Warde Nichols, a Gilbert Republican who is sponsoring the legislation.
Nichols said the details are still being worked out, but the $20 million would pay for things such as the Arizona Geological Survey’s fissure mapping, the State Land Department, the State Parks Board, the Department of Water Resources, the water banking fund, Game & Fish’s wildlife-restoration program and fire-suppression activities.
But diverting the money from the Growing Smarter Fund, which voters created in 1998, will be no easier affair. A constitutional provision prevents the Legislature from amending voter-approved legislation unless the changes “further the purpose” of the measure. Even still, changes require a three-fourths vote of each legislative chamber, which would require bipartisan support.
Nichols sees the legislation as an opportunity for Democrats to support giving money back to agencies after chiding Republicans for backing a budget fix that included deep cuts to state services.
“It will allow my colleagues from across the aisle to put their vote where their mouth is,” he said.
But House Democrats said they’re inclined to oppose the idea. Some even questioned its legality.
“I would have real concerns any time we’re talking about taking funds from a voter-protected fund. Voters enacted it for a specific purpose, and we shouldn’t go against their will,” said House Minority Leader David Lujan.
And Rep. Chad Campbell, a Democrat from Phoenix, said he doubted taking the money would be legal, as the ballot measure required it to be spent for a specific purpose. Using the money for other purposes, regardless of how important they are, could violate the Constitution, he said.
But Nichols said his bill is designed to avoid running afoul of the constitutional provision regarding changes to voter-approved programs. The Growing Smarter Fund wouldn’t be hurt because the legislation will extend the mandated deposits into it, which are scheduled to cease in 2011, by one year.
Right now, the money is not being used to prevent urban sprawl, he said, because the construction industry has all but come to a standstill in Arizona.
“We don’t exactly have a problem with sprawl right now,” Nichols said.
Under the Growing Smarter Act,
$20 million per year would be deposited from the state’s general fund from 2000 through 2011 to match funds invested by communities and others in the purchase of state trust lands for open space. It also would provide incentives for state and federal land lessees to maintain open space and wildlife habitat.
Nichols said he expects his bill to be fast-tracked through the House and the Senate if there is enough support to pass it.
In the Senate, meanwhile, there has been talk of correcting some mistakes in the fix to this year’s budget, as some of the dedicated funds that were being redirected into the state’s general fund may not have as much money available to be swept as lawmakers thought.
Among the funds the Legislature swept during the special session last month was $22.5 million appropriated to the Arizona 21st Century Competitive Initiative Fund.
“There is some gray area about the obligated and the unobligated money in that fund,” Senate President Bob Burns said.
Burns said he would ask Attorney General Terry Goddard to weigh in on whether the Legislature can require the return of money that already had been committed.
The possibility exists that of the $22.5 million lawmakers attempted to pull from that fund, as little as $5 million might be available to sweep, he said.
As a part of the fix to this year’s budget, the Legislature adopted an amendment that required money in the 21st Century Fund to revert to the general fund “whether encumbered or unencumbered.”
Burns told Senate Republicans he has received conflicting opinions as to what is or is not encumbered in the fund.
“If there are services that have been rendered and people haven’t been paid, I don’t see how you pull that money out of there,” he said. Æ