Sign In
Free Newsletter
GOP budget plan includes more than $1B in cuts
Details of the Republican budget plan given to majority party lawmakers this week show they and Gov. Jan Brewer aim to close a nearly $2.7 billion budget gap with more than $1.1 billion in cuts and wholesale elimination of a number of state programs.
Demonstrators: Health care funding cuts would hurt business
A plan to cut $800 million next fiscal year from state programs providing health care would cost tens of thousands of jobs, and the losses would extend far beyond those in the health care field, business leaders said Feb. 24.
Securing shuttered Arizona state parks a problem
State parks officials are struggling to figure out how they're going to keep closed state parks free of vandals and looters.
Smaller counties brace for influx of youth offenders from state
YUMA - On any given day, youths occupy about 55 of the 80 beds available at the Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center, staying an average of about two weeks.
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.
