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Cutbacks at DOR cost state millions in uncollected taxes
Based on unofficial estimates, the state missed out on more than $100 million in tax collections last year because the Legislature's cutbacks forced the Arizona Department of Revenue to lay off hundreds of employees, including auditors and tax collectors.
Brewer budget plan a tenuous proposition
Gov. Jan Brewer's budget plan is structured much like a game of Jenga. Pull out one piece, and the entire pile of blocks could come crashing down. The plan, released Jan. 15, would balance the budget using a variety of maneuvers to reduce costs and raise new revenue. But some of the ideas rely on future events that are out of the governor's control.
AHCCCS drains cash, stirs debate
Arizona's Medicaid program has become both a budget headache and a political football, with its costly burgeoning enrollment and the possibility that national health care legislation will add even more red ink on the deficit-plagued state's bottom line.
Brewer urges lawmakers to action amid special session doubts
As lawmakers expressed doubt as to what, if anything, would be accomplished in an upcoming special session, Gov. Jan Brewer urged the Legislature to do its duty and balance the deficit-wracked budget.
Flagstaff council rejects 4 day week
FLAGSTAFF - Saving an estimated $40,000 a year is not enough incentive for Flagstaff to go to a four-day work week for city workers. The City Council had been asked to consider implementing an alternative work schedule for nonessential city employees.
House panel approves budget-fix bills
A House panel followed the Senate's lead, quickly approving a series of budget bills aimed at chipping away at the state's massive deficit. The bills include $300 million in cuts to social programs and state aid for education.
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.
DHS hearing focuses on child care; lawmaker blasts First Things First
A joint legislative panel approved a recommendation on Nov. 9 to extend the Department of Health Services, which was the subject of a sunset review, for another decade. That was the easy part.
Special session No. 4 will target schools, DES funding
Republican legislative leaders have reached a deal with Gov. Jan Brewer to erase a portion of the estimated $2 billion budget deficit in a special session later this month, including about $300 million in spending cuts. The plan, if carried out, would eliminate a fraction of the overall deficit, and a $1.4 billion shortfall would remain.
Registrar of Contractors among agencies looking for budget fix
When the Legislature meets in a special session later this month, one of the agencies whose budget problems they will attempt to fix is the Registrar of Contractors. Tyler Palmer, legislative liaison for the Registrar of Contractors, said the agency lost about $390,000 in funding for operating costs when Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a budget bill in September.
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.
Lawmakers inch toward special session
Lawmakers are inching closer to a special session as Senate leadership proposes that the Legislature convene to fix the budget woes of state agencies affected by the governor's veto. House leadership was polling members to see if they support the idea, Senate President Bob Burns told the Arizona Capitol Times on October 22.
