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

So far, lawmakers and the Governor's Office have avoided conjuring the greatest fear of local governments - changing the formula that determines who gets what from the collective pot of money they all share.

The House Feb. 8 approved two more measures aimed at filling in a $1.4 billion deficit this year and paving the way to bridge a substantially larger shortfall in the upcoming year, but two more bills still await action.

Residents from Legislative District 6 have a new senator. David Braswell, chairman of the district's Republican Party, formally assumed office after a brief swearing-in ceremony on the Senate floor on Feb. 6.

Local government is usually the last place the Legislature looks to find extra money, but the state budget deficit has forced lawmakers to take desperate steps. This year and last, cities and counties have been forced to pay bills that historically have been the state's responsibility. During the past year, lawmakers have taken money that was intended to pay for local services, limited cities' ability to collect fees, and hoisted new burdens onto the shoulders of city officials who are trying to overcome the same economic conditions that ravaged two consecutive state budgets.

Sen. Jack Harper, a Republican from Surprise, has been appointed chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 4.

Two incumbent lawmakers and a party officer were nominated to replace Jim Waring, a Phoenix Republican who resigned his Senate seat last month to run for Congress.

It took nearly a year, but lawmakers finally gave Gov. Jan Brewer the special election for a temporary sales tax increase she had been calling for since last March.

Sen. Jack Harper stood up during a discussion on the Senate floor to explain that it was a mistake for President Obama to advocate for changes to the "Don't ask, don't tell" directive that has kept gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military.

Sen. Jack Harper said he intended to craft a law that would stop "activist judges" from taking children away from heterosexual couples and giving custody to gay people. But the measure he is sponsoring would have a much broader impact on Arizona's adoption laws.

Secret plotting to balance Arizona's wildly out-of-whack budget got started in an east Phoenix restaurant best described as a hole-in-the- wall. What better place than a hole-in-the-wall to work on a budget full of holes?