Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Lawmakers officially kicked off the fourth special session of the year - the second devoted to the fiscal 2010 budget - with an uneventful gathering at the state Capitol on Nov. 17. The work on taking a small bite out of the state's $2 billion budget deficit will take place on Nov. 19, when House and Senate budget committees are expected to meet.

A longtime Tempe city councilor is switching parties to run for the state House as a Democrat after a veteran legislator announces her retirement. Ben Arredondo, who has served on the Tempe City Council since 1994, will announce his candidacy for the District 17 House seat. The move was prompted by Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill's retirement announcement, which came at a Capitol press conference on Nov. 17.

Draft versions of the bills lawmakers are expected to consider this week in a special legislative session show about $300 million in spending cuts to education and social services, as well as the restoration of funding for high-tech economic development.

Arizona's 49th Legislature has been tasked with keeping the state financially afloat during the most troubling economic times in state history. But the choices lawmakers made this year in an effort to balance the budget have led to six lawsuits challenging the state's use of fund sweeps to fill in deficits.

Chris Deschene hasn't even finished his first term as a legislator and he's already eyeing higher office and laying the groundwork for a statewide campaign.

A recent vote by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns to sue the Legislature in an attempt to undo provisions passed in the most recent special session could have broader effects on the lobbying group for local governments.

Municipalities are gearing up for a lawsuit challenging restrictions lawmakers put on cities and towns when they approved the fiscal 2010 spending plan.

Republican legislative leaders have reached a deal with Gov. Jan Brewer to erase a portion of the estimated $2 billion budget deficit in a special session later this month, including about $300 million in spending cuts. The plan, if carried out, would eliminate a fraction of the overall deficit, and a $1.4 billion shortfall would remain.

A Maricopa County judge has rejected an argument by one of the state's largest utilities that could have fundamentally changed water law in the state, saying the law's intentions are clear even though the law itself might be imperfect.

The budget fix being shopped to Republican lawmakers would erase a little more than a quarter of the estimated $2 billion deficit and include about $300 million in permanent spending cuts. House Majority Whip Andy Tobin said the deal Republican leaders have reached with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer would include $140 million in cuts to K-12 education and $140 million in cuts to ADES.