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

Rep. Olivia Cajero Bedford, a Democrat from Tucson, was selected to participate in the 2009 session of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program conducted at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

The Arizona Legislature voted unanimously July 6 to pass four bills, one of which would restore funding to public education and add another approximately $400 million to schools. The measures garnered bipartisan support, passing unanimously, first in the House and then in the Senate.

With the passage of four budget bills late July 6, lawmakers and Governor Jan Brewer seem to be moving toward a deal on the state budget, however, the futures of more than 180 other pieces of legislation remain uncertain.

After budget negotiations with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer disintegrated last week when she vetoed a series of budget bills and line-item-vetoed other approved spending, Republican legislative leaders are inviting their Democratic colleagues to the table in the hopes of hammering out a deal.

Most Arizona senators will be present for the opening of the special session on July 6, according to staff members in their Senate offices. A handful will probably be absent, including senators Meg Burton Cahill of Tempe and Richard Miranda of Tolleson.

It seems the cordial bickering is over now that Senate President Bob Burns has castigated Gov. Jan Brewer for “abusing the public” through the use of budget vetoes and for calling a special session to hammer through a tax increase. Burns issued ...

As the clock neared midnight with no budget yet in place, Gov. Jan Brewer turned to the Democrats for support. For Democrats, however, it was too little, too late.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the general appropriations bill that was part of the budget package, but with several line-item vetoes. Otherwise, she threw down the gauntlet and vetoed several of the budget reconciliation bills and called for a special session on July 6.

The final days of the first regular session of the 49th Legislature were punctuated by fits and starts over the passage of a budget deal Republican leaders reached with Gov. Jan Brewer, as lawmakers aborted one attempt after another to approve the package, finally doing so hours after the new fiscal year began.

As the last day of the 2009 fiscal year was winding down without a budget in place, political onlookers who have spent a few years at the Capitol started to wonder: Will the Senate stop the clock before midnight of June 30 to hide the fact that the new fiscal year has started?