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

Fixing billion dollar budet deficits is difficult enough. It’s a whole lot harder when public officials are working on the political math of their re-election instead of on their duties to the electorate.

Bills are being introduced at a brisk pace at both the federal and state levels. While Congress focuses on President Obama’s recently enacted health care laws, many new labor and employment reform bills are being considered, including one sponsored by Congressman Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican.

As part of an emerging pattern, another legal battle in Arizona soon will have the country buzzing again. This time, the attention won’t come from immigration policy, border security or John McCain. Instead, Arizona is about to affect the election law universe in a way that will ignite political pundits’ debates for some time.

Standard & Poor’s recently lowered New Jersey’s credit rating, citing concerns over unfunded pension and health benefits for public workers that could balloon to $185 billion by 2040.

In the perennial post-game buzz about Super Bowl ads, the buff body of the new GoDaddy Girl (aka Joan Rivers) was a big hit this year.

There are so many critical issues facing our embattled yet beloved state. Foremost is the financial stability and sustainability of both our private and public sectors. Following that fundamental concern is the welfare of our communities in the areas of health care, education, housing, etc.

Despite transportation funds coming from taxes paid by Arizona drivers, the federal government puts conditions and mandates on the use of these funds before states can be reimbursed for expenditures. Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Department of Transportation have been fighting for more local control of transportation funds to better meet the state’s short- and long-range needs.

News councils, which generally include a mix of journalists and citizens as members, cannot force news operations to cooperate in their investigations. They don’t have legal powers to compel witnesses or gather facts, and they lack authority to enforce any penalty, correction or retraction. Though supporters see councils as a way to encourage accurate and fair reporting, opponents have raised objections ranging from personal pique at outsider meddling to an old claim that such private reviews are a first step toward government interference with a free press.

On Jan. 21, the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources shut down operations when it ran out of money. However, the mines department’s governing board transferred custody of the department’s files and physical resources to the Arizona Geological Survey for one year, or until the Legislature takes further action, such as approving Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to consolidate the two agencies.

As the mayor of Cave Creek, I empathize with what Gov. Jan Brewer and state legislators are facing with the state’s budget deficit. Taxes can be raised only so high and spending cut only so deep before Arizonans’ quality of life suffers.