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100 days of session and no end in sight

Senate President Karen Fann is pursuing what a fellow Republican lawmaker calls “the impossible dream” – a truly bipartisan budget with spending priorities that reflect Republican and Democratic priorities. Senate...

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22,000 Arizona children could lose health care

Health care for more than 22,000 Arizona youngsters is in jeopardy because of congressional inaction. The federal budget year expired Sept. 30 without lawmakers taking action to fund the Children’s...

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ADOT may be illegally charging repealed fee

Deposit Photo More than 166,000 Arizona motorists who are now renewing their vehicle registrations are being hit up for a $32 fee that the agency may...

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Arizona governor signs stripped-down $11.8 billion budget

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a stripped-down emergency state budget Saturday that contains $50 million in spending to help tenants, homeowners and small businesses weather the coronavirus crisis. The $11.8...

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Arizona lawmakers propose increase in base education funding

  The proposed state budget released today marks some strides forward for public education funding, including a 0.9% increase in base level funding.  But Democrats and public...

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Arizona public schools find ways to adapt to funding cuts

Students in Tucson’s Amphitheater district receive Chromebooks paid for by the nonprofit Amphi Foundation to help them learn. The foundation funds programs the district would not...

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Arizona top teachers unload on Legislature

Three current and former teachers of the year lashed out Monday at lawmakers for failing to properly fund schools — and salaries — but were more forgiving of local school...

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Arizonans deserve better budget after difficult year

Passing a balanced state budget is the most important responsibility we have as legislators. Hence, we owe it to our constituents and our state to tread carefully. We have a...

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Bill bans mask mandates in public schools

Angela Black, right, with her brother Luke Black at their home, pose for a photo Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. The students, a third...

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Boyer gives caucus price for vote on budget

In this April 16, 2016, photo, Rep. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, attends a panel discussion hosted by the Center for Political Thought and Leadership at Arizona State...

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Budget calls for school districts to divvy up pay increase

Rebuffing last-minute protests by educators picketing the Capitol, Republican lawmakers took the first steps Monday to providing a 9 percent raise this coming year for teachers. But not necessarily all...

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Budget impasse triggers talk of shutdown

If Arizona’s government were ever to shut down, 2021 would be the year.   Budget impasses have pushed the state near the breaking point before, including a long summer night 12...

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Budget includes property tax increase for some school districts

Gov. Doug Ducey (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times)douhg Homeowners in more than a dozen Arizona school districts will pay additional property taxes after lawmakers approved...

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Budget process brings more discord among utility regulators

Bob Burns explains why he was the lone vote against selecting Tom Forese as new chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer)
Bob Burns explains why he was the lone vote against selecting Tom Forese as new chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer)

Using money saved in part when the Arizona Corporation Commission got rid of an ethics attorney, the agency is now giving extra money to some commissioners to lead workshops on special issues.

And the idea of budgeting additional money for newly created committees, which the commission did not have before, led Commissioner Bob Burns to dissent from the commission’s budget request, a rare move meant to register his discontent with the program.

The committees were created by Chairman Tom Forese in March and doled out to Commissioners Andy Tobin, Boyd Dunn and Doug Little. Burns does not have a committee, and neither does Forese.

Each committee will get an additional $20,000 to spend on things like research, staffing or travel needs, said commission spokeswoman Holly Ward. The committees are considered a “pilot program” for budgeting purposes, and the amount will not exceed $100,000 for next fiscal year, she said.

There was also some money spent this year for the committees, she said, including an intern for Tobin’s water committee and some travel costs to go to rural areas, also for the water committee.

Little, however, told the Arizona Capitol Times he never held any meetings for his committee and didn’t spend any money it.

Burns said in his dissent letter, attached to the budget request sent to the Ducey administration, that this is the first time in his five years as a commissioner that he has dissented from a budget request.

Agencies send requests for spending to the Governor’s Office each fall, jockeying for limited available funds. Burns wrote that the funding for the committees is coming from “vacancy savings,” meaning money the commission hasn’t spent to fill vacant positions.

One of those positions left vacant, resulting in savings, is a legal counsel hired in 2015 to handle ethics issues and public records requests, Ward said. When the commission hired a new legal counsel, Andy Kvesic, he streamlined his team and is now doing records requests himself, so the position is no longer needed, Ward said.

But Burns believes these new committees don’t need additional money, and the money in question should go toward its intended purpose, paying for salaries. Burns notes in his dissent that his office coordinated seven workshops with more than 70 presenters a couple years ago without any additional funding.

“The perception is that this $100,000 will go to commissioners who support Chairman Forese’s agenda,” Burns alleges, adding that the commissioners who have committees are the ones who now routinely vote with Forese.

“It creates an appearance of a carrot and a stick model that can be used as leverage against members of the commission who ‘fall out of line’ with the commission chairman,” Burns wrote.

Burns also questioned the existence of the committees in general, saying they make the commission more like the Legislature, which “is a deviation from the Arizona Constitution.” The commission is supposed to be a fourth branch of government unlike the other three, and the committees centralize power in the chairman’s hands, Burns wrote.

Burns told the Arizona Capitol Times he dissented from the budget request because he didn’t know what other route he could take to say he disagreed with the committee spending.

“This whole thing of setting up committees is a farce, in my opinion,” Burns said.

Forese and Tobin want to make the commission more like the Legislature, and the committees serve that purpose, Burns said, adding that they’re being used similarly to the way the Legislature uses committee placements to gain leverage or punish people. He equated the committee system to a “chairman’s slush fund.”

“Guess who doesn’t have one?” Burns said.

Forese knocked down Burns’ claims that the committees centralize power, saying instead they are intended to give commissioners a way to go deeper into issues and become experts. Forese said there are a number of positions that won’t be filled at the commission, and the commission is looking for other ways to adopt “lean measures” the Ducey administration has prioritized.

And while it’s true that Burns doesn’t have a committee, Forese said he’s open to giving him one.

“He’s never asked me for one. We’ve never discussed it,” Forese said.

As far as making the commission more like the Legislature, Forese said that’s the whole point of the committees. He found the legislative committee process better for public interaction and deep discussion. In the past, commission chairmen have used their positions to dominate on key issues, and Forese wants to instead defer to other commissioners to lead on specific topics.

The budget request dissent falls into a pattern of disagreement between Forese and Burns, who have repeatedly clashed over Burns’ interest in disclosing election spending on Forese and Little’s 2014 race.

“If I signed a birthday card, Bob Burns would dissent,” Forese said.

Budget proposal killed in House committee

Two Republicans joined Democrats Wednesday to kill a scaled-down state budget proposal.   Reps. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, and Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, joined all five Democrats on the House Appropriations...

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Budget talks stall, lawmakers consider scaled-down option

Deposit Photo Legislative leadership is considering a “skinny budget” this year after struggling to get consensus on big projects.  This would be a continuation of the...

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Circumstances sweep away some of Ducey’s agenda

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, middle, pauses as he gives his state of the state address as he is flanked by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, left,...

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Corrections asks for more money to help prisoners re-enter society

The Arizona Department of Corrections wants 102 new positions and more than $13 million to fuel re-entry and recidivism reduction programs, but prisoner rights advocates aren’t convinced the request signals...

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Ducey aides defend $1.5B cut in tax collections

Top aides to Gov. Doug Ducey are defending the $1.5 billion cut in tax collections and bailout of the most wealthy as “modest and responsible.” In a briefing with media...

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Ducey courts school districts with more K-12 money

Gov. Doug Ducey (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) Looking for a scapegoat a year ago, Gov. Doug Ducey accused school officials for the woes of...

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Ducey draws line in sand on rainy-day fund

Calling an economic downturn “inevitable,” Gov. Doug Ducey is pushing back against demands by lawmakers from his own Republican Party to use an unexpected cash windfall to pay down debt....

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Ducey goes on veto spree to push teacher plan

Gov. Doug Ducey announces a plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise over the next three fiscal years. (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) Gov....

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Ducey mulls gambling to help fund teacher raises

Gov. Doug Ducey (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) Gov. Doug Ducey hopes to fund part of his teacher pay package through a new form of...

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Ducey offers teachers 20% pay raise by 2020

Arizona teachers march in protest of their low pay and school funding in front of a local radio station waiting for Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to...

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Ducey open to working with Dems on budget

Gov. Doug Ducey, third from left, helps cut a ribbon Wednesday for the formal opening of the new U.S. headquarters of CP Technologies in Prescott. Ducey...

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Ducey pay plan puts Democrats in catch-22

Democratic lawmakers face a political conundrum: Vote in favor of Ducey’s proposed 20 percent teacher pay increase and give the governor a political win or fall back on a campaign...

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Ducey proposes $12.3B state budget

Gov. Doug Ducey is proposing a $12.3 billion spending plan that still won’t restore state aid to education to where it was in 2008. On paper, the plan unveiled Friday...

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Ducey takes on budget risk to fund teacher pay hike

Gov. Doug Ducey announces a plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise over the next three fiscal years. (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) As...

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Ducey wants $100M for wildfires

The Telegraph Fire burns Thursday, June 10, 2021 in Globe, Ariz. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has called a special session of the Legislature to boost wildfire...

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Ducey, legislative leaders arrive at teacher pay deal

Gov. Doug Ducey announces a plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise over the next three fiscal years. (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) Arizona...

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Education groups not satisfied with Ducey’s budget increases

Education groups are luke-warm to Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed spending on public education for the 2021 fiscal-year. More than half of Ducey’s proposed $12.3 billion budget, which he unveiled January...

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Fiscal responsibility guiding AZ through tough times

I recently had the opportunity to hear from Richard Stavneak, director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, followed by revered economist Jim Rounds at the Arizona Tax Research Association’s highly...

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Flat-rate tax plan would have bipartisan support

Arizona’s taxation system is structurally imbalanced as the demand for government spending continues to far exceed tax revenue collections. Prior to this Covid recession, there was bipartisan agreement that additional...

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GOP lawmakers ready budget to send to Hobbs

Legislative Republicans are gearing up to send a budget to Gov. Katie Hobbs soon, which will likely be met with a hasty veto.   Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said on Monday...

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Governor’s budget ‘tantrum’ miffs lawmakers

In starting Memorial Day weekend by vetoing every bill on his desk, Gov. Doug Ducey aimed to prod reluctant lawmakers to end their vacation and return to pass his tax cut...

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Grab bag of laws voided by Supreme Court

When the Arizona Supreme Court slapped down how lawmakers approve “budget reconciliation” bills on November 2, they quashed more than the ban on schools requiring masks of faculty and students.  With its three-sentence order,...

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Hiring school counselors can’t wait

Nine hundred and three to one. That is the ratio of students to public school counselors in Arizona public schools. The national average is half that rate. That disparity represents...

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Hobbs wants bigger budget – doesn’t ask nicely

Katie Hobbs Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wants to nearly double her office’s funding next year because of new burdens imposed by Republican legislators.  In a scathing...

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House Dems torpedo GOP efforts to pass budget

Efforts to enact a new $12.8 billion budget and tax cuts sputtered Tuesday as House Democrats refused to come to the floor, leaving the Republican-controlled chamber short of a quorum....

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House Dems walk out stalls GOP budget

House Republicans’ hopes of passing a budget Tuesday were dashed when the Democrats boycotted the morning’s floor session.  Without the constitutionally required majority of members present in the building to...

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House flounders bid to pass tax bills

Rep. David Cook argues against a proposal by Republican leaders which would limit the amount of income taxes paid by the most wealthy. (Screengrab by Capitol...

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House GOP bill requires lessons on evils of communism

Rep. Quang Nguyen (Capitol Media Services 2021 file photo by Howard Fischer) Republican lawmakers voted Friday to require that students be exposed to the stories of...

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House GOP policy plan covers old ground, unfinished battles

Republican leadership in the House of Representatives released a general framework of policy and spending goals for the upcoming legislative session on January 9, laying out a broad-stroke vision for...

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House passes budget package, Senate goes home

  (Photo by Ellen O’Brien/Arizona Capitol Times) Just a few hours after saying she was “bound and determined” to pass a budget Friday night, Senate President...

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House Republican threatens vote against budget

Saying the budget agreement crafted by GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey is “not a conservative budget,” Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, vowed to vote against it Thursday unless his...

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House, Senate GOP leaders bring in budget holdouts

The Legislature may start debating and voting on the FY22 budget as early as Tuesday after striking a deal with Republican holdouts that slows down the implementation of tax cuts and pays...

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House, Senate leaders cut budget deal with Arizona governor

Republican leaders who control the majority in the Arizona Legislature said Sunday they’ve reached a deal with GOP Gov. Doug Ducey on a spending plan for the budget year that...

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Lawmakers approve wording for 2018 ballot measures

(AP Photo/Matt York) A Republican-dominated legislative committee decided Wednesday that voters don’t need to be told that if they approve a business-backed tax-limiting measure the state...

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Lawmakers can call bluff with slim margin

House Republican leaders bent on passing a flat tax and succeeding with threadbare majorities where past Republican supermajorities had failed hatched a plan last week: put the tax bills up for a...

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Lawmakers consider break to negotiate budget

Lawmakers could take a break in the legislative session due to budget holdouts, according to Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Republicans from both chambers...

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Lawmakers to start 2024 session with massive budget deficit

State lawmakers return to the Capitol Monday with an overflowing list of major issues that need to be addressed, from water to housing to the economy. But first they’re going...

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Legislature 2020: How to spend surplus of money

Winged Victory atop the Arizona Capitol Building (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr) State lawmakers return to the Capitol Monday to deal with something they appear to have...

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Legislature to pass bare-bones budget this week

Sen. Lupe Contreras confers Monday with Senate President Karen Fann as lawmakers determine what needs to be done immediately to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. (Capitol...

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Legislature to start work on budget

House and Senate Republicans plan to introduce their budget bills Monday, Senate President Karen Fann and House Speaker Rusty Bowers said. Their comments Thursday came as several Republican senators continued...

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More Republican senators threaten vote against budget

Plans for a Republican-crafted budget blew up Thursday when a second GOP lawmaker said she won’t vote for a spending plan unless and until the state gives victims of childhood...

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New spending less than meets the eye

On paper, that $11.8 billion budget signed Friday by Gov. Doug Ducey is a somewhere north of 11 percent higher than what was adopted a year ago. But there’s less...

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No time to relax, competitive forces fiercer than ever

The most difficult time to accept a new challenge and embrace change is when things are going well. At the start of a new decade, people who live in Arizona...

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Panels advance budget bills, GOP holdouts seek compromise

Budget bills cleared their first hurdle Tuesday after a day of arm-twisting and political maneuvering, but problems getting it passed persist.   One Republican in the House voted against every budget bill, while a fiscal hawk...

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Passing $12.8B budget means appeasing several Republicans

GOP leaders in the House and Senate introduced a $12.8 billion spending plan Monday afternoon with high hopes of passing it by Wednesday — but finding the votes to pass it...

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Pay raise gives political boost to teachers, Ducey

Striking teachers silently cheer using their hands to follow decorum on not clapping or verbally reacting from the Senate gallery while senators meet in Senate chambers...

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Preliminary Senate budget defies Ducey’s priorities

A budget proposal from Senate Republican leaders woefully fails to meet Gov. Doug Ducey’s biggest spending and saving priorities, and has isolated some rank-and-file GOP senators who’ve vowed to vote...

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Public education advocates bemoan school money still not enough

Education issues captured much of the attention this legislative session, but public school advocates say they’re disappointed with the outcome. It’s hard to argue the budget doesn’t focus on education...

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Rep. Cook looks out for LD8 cities, towns

David Cook Dear Editor: In 1972, mayors from all over Arizona struck a deal with leaders at the state Capitol that helped our economy grow, kept taxes...

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Republican lawmakers propose flat tax, $12.8B budget

House and Senate leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey have agreed on a roughly $12.8 billion spending plan, including the state’s largest tax cut in recent memory – but the budget lacks the Republican votes...

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Rosy state revenues belie need for recovery package

The COVID-19 virus might not have dissipated over the summer, but the specter of a billion-dollar deficit and draconian budget cuts not seen since the Great Recession certainly did. The...

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Scaled-down budget possible to break impasse

The Arizona House ended the week seemingly no closer to passing a budget than it had been before, after a single Republican joined with the Democrats on June 7 to kill the...

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School facilities agency accepts auditors’ recommendations

Arizona’s state board responsible for helping school districts keep their facilities up to par says it’ll heed state auditors’ recommendations for improvements in its own operations. A response by School...

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Sen. Boyer gives Senate ultimatum on sex abuse bill

Sen. Paul Boyer said he’ll refuse to vote for a budget unless lawmakers agree to expand opportunities for victims of child rape and sex abuse to sue their abusers. The...

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Senate near on budget deal with holdout lawmaker

Two Republican holdouts on a proposed Arizona state budget, Senators Paul Boyer, left, and J.D. Mesnard confer on the Senate floor during a break in the...

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Senate plans to start budget talks around Labor Day

Republicans in the state Senate — and possibly the House — plan to start drafting next year’s budget shortly after Labor Day and have a proposal ready by the end...

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Senate Republicans introduce budget bills

Deposit Photos The Senate completed the first step towards passing a budget on Monday while the House hit a snag.   Republican leaders in the Senate...

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Senate stalls on budget again

Black and white chess knights standing face to face over white background Senate President Karen Fann could pass an $11.8 billion spending plan — perhaps even...

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Session Wrap with Rusty Bowers

Rusty Bowers Even after a taxing 134-day session, House Speaker Rusty Bowers remains patently himself when he sits down with the Arizona Capitol Times – reflective,...

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Sine finally die!

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, looks over the printed budget prior to a vote on the Arizona budget at the Arizona Capitol Thursday, June 24,...

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Some lawmakers question need for special session

A bill moratorium and a budget stalemate meant the House and Senate weren’t conducting any real business before Gov. Doug Ducey called a special session – so why call one?  ...

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Spending put on hold for programs, grants

A handful of one-time allocations spanning grants, lawmaker pet projects and other programs included in the 2024 budget are being put on pause in the third quarter, according to a...

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Teachers end short-lived strike

Arizona Educators United organizer Noah Karvelis addresses reporters and Red for Ed demonstrators after calling teachers back to their classrooms beginning on May 3 – if...

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Top Republicans meet to work out deal on teacher pay

Top Republicans are huddling to see if they can reach an accord over the issue of teacher pay ahead of Thursday’s strike deadline, potentially forestalling or at least undermining the walkout.

Senate President Steve Yarbrough (R-Chandler) (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times)
Senate President Steve Yarbrough (R-Chandler) (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times)

Senate President Steve Yarbrough told Capitol Media Services Monday there is “unease” among many House and Senate Republicans with predictions by Gov. Doug Ducey that a 19 percent pay hike for teachers by 2020 can be enacted and money from a special assistance fund for schools can be restored, all without a tax hike. Ducey contends that there will be sufficient strong economic growth to both generate new tax revenues and reduce state spending on health and social service programs.

He said that’s why some GOP lawmakers are holding out until they can identify firm sources of revenue “to help us get to this very ambitious goal.”

But whether anything that lawmakers approve is enough to avert a walkout remains to be seen.

The teacher pay plan, even if approved, does not address other demands by Arizona Educators United and the Arizona Education Association. That includes pay hikes for support staff like teaching specialists, counselors, bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

And nothing in the governor’s proposal specifically addresses restoring the more than $1 billion that has been taken in state aid to schools in the last decade, as well as a demand to eventually get teacher pay here up to the national average.

“We are very cognizant of a wide variety of wishes,” Yarbrough said.

“But we’re trying to get the really big nut cracked at the moment,” he said, that being teacher pay.

House Speaker J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler)
House Speaker J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler)

At this point, House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said lawmakers will do what they do — and the education groups will do what they want, no matter what. And if that means a teacher strike, he said, that can’t be the prime concern of legislators.

“Few people down here are looking at Thursday as any kind of deadline,” Mesnard told Capitol Media Services.

“The belief here is that Thursday’s going to happen, no matter what,” he said. And he said that pretty much whatever legislators approve “will not be enough in the eyes of some.”

Mesnard, however, suggested he thinks there may be some cracks developing in the #RedForEd movement, particularly now that Ducey has put a plan for teacher pay on the table.

“I think this movement was founded specifically on teacher pay,” he said, echoing Yarbrough’s belief that has to be the focus of legislative action. “And now some are trying to move the goalposts a bit.”

But AEA President Joe Thomas said education groups have been clear from the start that this has always been about the larger issue of adequate school funding, of which teacher pay is just a part.

And Thomas said if Ducey and GOP leaders think they’ve got a plan to at least start addressing the issue, they need to communicate that to the AEA and AEU if they truly want to avoid a strike. But to date, the governor has steadfastly refused to meet with Thomas or Noah Karvelis, one of the AEU organizers.

Scarpinato declined to speculate whether approval of a teacher pay plan would forestall a strike.

Thomas said people are willing to listen if there’s a real proposal.

“Educators look at new data,” he said.

But to this point, Thomas said, there’s little to convince them that Ducey’s plan is financially sustainable.

Even the governor himself is not relying entirely on an improving economy. His plan involves decisions not to fund certain other priorities like additional dollars for skilled nursing care, a border crimes unit and even reducing the debt.

And it even counts on generating cash through a new state-run keno game.

For educators, however, the offer to hike teacher pay is not enough because there are no dollars specifically to improve pay for support staff like counselors, classroom specialists, janitors and bus drivers.

Ducey, for his part, said restoring funds for additional district assistance — the money lawmakers refused to fund in prior years — will free up cash for those employees. But those dollars are supposed to go to things like computers, books, buses and some repairs, all things that have not been fully funded in years, resulting in some cases in out-of-date books that finally could get replaced and repairs being made that have gone ignored.

The education groups also want some plan to not only get student funding back to where it was a decade ago — it is less than that now, even before inflation is taken into account — but also to get teacher pay up to the national average.

Expect More Arizona, a group that lobbies for more education funding, says the current median for all teachers in the state is $44,900. That, the organization says, ranks Arizona No. 49 with a national median of $57,160.

The movement is picking up support from other quarters.

Julie Erfle, spokeswoman for AZ Schools Now, said her education support group supports not only the movement but understands why educators have chosen to walk out.

“A decade of severe budget cuts have left our classrooms in disrepair, our teachers demoralized, and our students shortchanged,” she said in a prepared statement Monday, calling on Ducey and legislative leaders to find “sustainable, permanent and equitable solutions” for schools.

“Anything less is unacceptable,” Erfle said.

The last-minute push to find a deal — and possibly avert a strike — comes on the heels of Ducey striking out at legislative inaction on Friday by vetoing 10 of their bills.

“There’s no doubt that there’s some pretty strong feelings in the caucus about the vetoed bills,” Mesnard said. “So there’s a lot of conversation happening among caucus members.”

House Majority Leader John Allen, R-Scottsdale, called the governor’s actions “politics over policy.”

But the move appears to have had the desired results, paving the way for the negotiations — at least among Ducey and legislators.

“The governor feels very strongly that we need to get this teacher pay proposal over the finish line,” said Ducey press aide Daniel Scarpinato.

He said school districts are currently putting together their budgets and offering contracts to teachers for the coming year.

“So there is some real urgency in getting it done,” Scarpinato said. And with talks now underway, Ducey has apparently relented: On Monday he signed three Republican bills.

 

Tucking policy in budget to get tested in court

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, looks over the printed budget prior to a vote on the Arizona budget at the Arizona Capitol Thursday, June 24,...

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Voices of the Red for Ed movement

A crowd of red-clad teachers, students and Red for Ed supporters could be seen from the top of a parking garage near Chase Field as they...

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Voucher expansion proposal puts Udall, John on the spot

The Senate’s passage of a massive voucher expansion will test the resolve of two Republican House members who killed the expansion earlier this year.   In the Arizona Legislature, there’s a...

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Wrap up with Doug Ducey

Gov. Doug Ducey (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) Gov. Doug Ducey faced a new conundrum this legislative session: Where to best spend available state dollars....

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Wrap up with J.D. Mesnard

Speaker of the House, J.D. Mesnard (Photo by Luige del Puerto/Arizona Capitol Times) In his first year as speaker of the House, J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, spent...

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Wrap up with Rebecca Rios

House Minority Leader Rebecca Rios (D-Phoenix) (Photo by Rachel Leingang/Arizona Capitol Times) In her first year as House Democratic leader, Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, a longtime lawmaker,...

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Wrap up with Steve Yarbrough

Senate President Steve Yarbrough (R-Chandler) (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times) After 16 years as an Arizona state representative, then senator, Senate President Steve Yarbrough is...

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