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JLBC casts doubt on governor’s budget figures
The Governor’s Office and the Legislature’s budget research arm widely differ in their revenue and expenditure assumptions, a point of contention both sides will have to reconcile before a final spending plan is adopted.
State pinched by decline in corporate tax revenues
The state is starting to feel the pinch as corporate income tax revenues tumble down, which budget analysts say is the result of tax cuts being phased in.
Mussels, hunters and fingerprints: The odds and ends of Ducey’s budget
Buried in Gov. Doug Ducey's $9.5 billion spending plan are a host of odds and ends designed to solve issues, large and small. There also are some notable issues that are not addressed.
Q&A with Speaker of the House David Gowan
When House Speaker David Gowan first came to the Legislature in 2009, the state budget was more than $3 billion in the hole. Seven years later, as Gowan prepares to enter his final year at the Capitol, the budget is nearly balanced and the state has a surplus and money in the rainy day fund.
Ducey unveils state spending plan
The bleeding is over and spending is inching back up under Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed budget plan, but those who took steep budget cuts last year shouldn’t expect to get much of it back.
Tax cuts could pit governor against GOP lawmakers
Despite rosier-than-expected revenue collections and projections, top Republican lawmakers have all warned against the dangers of increasing state spending.
Clear economic sailing in 2016, but experts urge caution
As Arizona fully emerges from what has been a long and dark economic winter, economists warn of potential headwinds and the possibility of another recession this decade.
Battle over surplus money looms in 2016
There's a twist this year to what has been the perennial big fight at the Capitol over money. Arizona has too much of it.
Year in Review: Classrooms vs. cells – spending on prisons increases faster than on education
As lawmakers developed the fiscal year 2016 spending plan, an unofficial rallying point among the education and human services communities was that the prison system is growing at the expense of schools and children.
United front leads to budget compromise and short session
When Gov. Doug Ducey unveiled his first state budget proposal to the public in January, House Speaker David Gowan, Senate President Andy Biggs and their chambers’ budget committee chairmen stood at the new governor’s flanks, nodding and smiling for the cameras.
Think tank report concludes rainy day funds need to be reformed
Rainy day funds in states such as Arizona should be reformed if they are to protect the states effectively during economic downturns, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trust.
Biggs succeeds in getting audit of First Things First
Rebuffed in his efforts to sweep dollars from First Things First as a part of K-12 funding plans, Senate President Andy Biggs will still get an audit of the early... […]
