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

After accomplishing 10 of its 13 goals in 2009, the Center for Arizona Policy has a new set of priorities for this year's legislative session. Many of the bills have been passed by either the House or the Senate.

When Jan Brewer replaced Janet Napolitano as governor last year, socially conservative public policy groups such as the Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Catholic Conference began a streak of successes at the Capitol that would make any lobbyist envious.

The budget that was mostly approved by lawmakers on March 11 will cut $1.2 billion in state spending, but it includes a contingency plan that will reduce spending by almost double that amount if voters reject a sales tax increase that will be on the ballot May 18.

The Legislature passed 13 of the measures aimed at solving the state’s deficit in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, but Senate Republican leaders failed to muster the votes for the two remaining measures that would save the state about $350 million.

The Arizona Corporation Commission decided three years ago that homebuilders should pay the cost of extending power lines to new houses, but some lawmakers now want to go back to the way things used to be and force utility companies to foot the bill.

The system that allows Arizona residents to use government money to campaign for political office is teetering after a federal judge ruled earlier this year that a major component of the scheme is unconstitutional. Many powerful special interest groups, nonetheless, are hoping to deliver the knockout blow at the ballot box this fall, rather than wait for it to collapse on its own.

The House passed all 15 budget measures in the special session. The Senate, however, was unable to pass two of the bills.

The latest plan to address the state's budget deficit would sweep a fund that helps law enforcement patrol Arizona's waterways, something that two local officials say would endanger boaters.

Republican leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer have struck a deal that will allow the Department of Juvenile Corrections to remain in place for the next year instead of shuttering the agency and shifting responsibility to counties.

The special session continues today as lawmakers try to hammer out a deal on a budget plan that would eliminate the $700 million deficit remaining in the fiscal 2010 budget and another $2.6 billion deficit in the fiscal 2011 budget. Lawmakers hope to vote on the bills today.