Sign In
Free Newsletter
Tax increase for jobless benefits moving again
Legislation to levy a temporary tax increase on Arizona employers to repay borrowing for unemployment benefits is moving again at the Legislature after being stalled for nearly two months.
DES Director Young resigning
Neal Young, the director of the Department of Economic Security, has announced that he will step down in January.
DES: Keep filing unemployment papers
The Department of Economic Security is encouraging Arizonans receiving unemployment benefits to continue checking in and filing paperwork as normal, despite a hold on federal benefits.
AZ trust fund for jobless benefits running dry
The state trust fund that pays for jobless benefits is expected to run dry this week. That will force Arizona to borrow money from the federal government until unemployment subsides.
Special session kicks off, but most work slated for Thursday
Lawmakers officially kicked off the fourth special session of the year - the second devoted to the fiscal 2010 budget - with an uneventful gathering at the state Capitol on Nov. 17. The work on taking a small bite out of the state's $2 billion budget deficit will take place on Nov. 19, when House and Senate budget committees are expected to meet.
Wishful thinking interrupted by budget reality
JLBC has singled out three budget provisions that wouldn't live up to their billing: a plan to save $50 million due to reduced fraud in the health care system; deals to privatize nine of the 10 state prisons; and a plan to raise $735 million by selling dozens of state buildings, then leasing them back. But there's more.
Some agencies avoid submitting reduction reports
When drafting reports to show the impact of 15 percent cuts to their budgets, some state agencies described how their services would be gutted. Some simply explained why such cuts aren't feasible. And others, such as the Governor's Office, which ordered the reports, don't seem to know where to even make the cuts.
DES would drop to ’04 funding levels if faced with 15% cut
A 15 percent cut at the Department of Economic Security would take a heavy toll on the vulnerable populations Gov. Jan Brewer has spoken so often of protecting. According to a report by the Department of Economic Security, a 15 percent reduction in the agency's budget would drop it down to 2004 funding levels.
State Supreme Court declines to intervene in suit against DES
The Arizona Supreme Court has refused to stop the state from cutting millions of dollars from health care programs that serve developmentally disabled people. On June 1, the high court declined without comment to review a Court of Appeals ruling that erased a preliminary injunction issued by a trial judge.
State Supreme Court asked to intervene in suit against DES
The Department of Economic Security may be forced to roll back millions of dollars in budget cuts to health care programs serving the state's disabled population if the Arizona Supreme Court agrees to hear a lawsuit filed against the department earlier this year.
House Approps advances budget bill on 8-5 vote
A House panel voted along party lines May 5 to approve a fiscal 2010 budget bill that relies on $630 million in spending cuts and taking another $394 million from other dedicated funds.
UpClose with Neal Young
Neal Young will return to the Arizona Department of Economic Security in a few weeks, this time as the governor’s pick to head the massive agency. In past years, Young led several of the department’s divisions, including the Business and Finance Division. But Young said the responsibility of taking over one of the state’s largest agencies still makes him nervous, even after all of his public[...]
