The Senate Appropriations Committee has produced a worksheet that includes options to close the budget deficit in fiscal 2010, but the cuts outlined in the document still fall about $400 million to $500 million short of closing the gap.

Senate leadership made the announcement on March 23, but they did not provide many details, such as the amount of federal money that will be used to plug holes in the budget and the overall amount of spending that would be cut if the provisions of the working sheet were approved as written.

Still, Senate Republicans said they are soliciting ideas from the public to identify ways to cover the remaining $400 million to $500 million as outlined on the worksheet.

A member of leadership has been working to compile a list of ideas they have so far received from lawmakers, individuals, public policy groups, the business community and others on how to fix the deficit.

"Every citizen out there interacts with their state government. Everybody has seen things they think could be done better or differently," said Sen. Pamela Gorman, the majority whip. "We believe there are out people out there that have terrific ideas. We need them to know we want to hear them."

Republican leaders did not divulge what the deficit figure is that the budget packet is attempting to close, although Senate President Bob Burns said revenues continue to slide. The deficit was reported to be anywhere from $3 billion to $3.2 billion, but that was before the release of tax collection data that show state revenue continues to slide month after month.

Burns refused to provide details about the plan in the works, saying it's better to wait until the proposal is finalized before releasing specifics to the public.

"If we bring it out prematurely, in my mind, then there is an awful lot of attention paid to a portion of the budget that may change based on what we do with the solving of the gap problem," he said.

Last month, the Democrats presented their list of alternatives to closing the budget gap. The proposal relied heavily on federal stimulus aid and included securitizing the state's lottery proceeds and its prisons. The minority's list also called for suspending tax credits and continuing $580 million in spending cuts recently approved for the current fiscal year.

Burns, who insists that the Democrats are not locked out of the budget process, said the list of ideas the majority is compiling would include the minority's options.

During the press briefing, Burns also said the governor's recent statement has challenged them.

"She has publicly, I believe, made the statement that that she does not believe that the Legislature can resolve this problem without the possibility of a tax increase," Burns said. "I think that's a challenge to our membership and I think we need to answer that challenge and we need to show her that we can do it."

Meanwhile, fewer Senate committees will meet this week so lawmakers could focus on working on the budget.

On March 25, the Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee will tackle the work of the Arizona Health-e Connection, a non-profit group created in 2007 to lead the establishment of health information exchange and adoption of health information technology in the state.

The committee will also discuss health professional boards.

Also, the Senate Finance committee will delve into urban revenue sharing, an agreement by which a percentage of the state's individual and corporate income tax collections are distributed to incorporated cities and towns. The issue of shared revenue has always been contentious, and even more so now as lawmakers are eyeing ways to save money.

On March 26, the Government Institutions Committee will continue discussion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a.k.a., the stimulus package, particularly its transparency requirements as well as money available for emergency food and shelter.