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Senate budget plan deliberately ends FY11 in the red; Republicans call it transparent, honest
Instead of balancing the budget by borrowing money, deferring payment to schools or resorting to any other accounting maneuver, the Senate is proposing to cut spending as much it can, even if it means the current fiscal year ends with the state in the red.
Pearce: Senate plans Ariz. budget action Wednesday
Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce says the Senate will act Wednesday on a proposed state budget even though it doesn't have an agreement with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.
Brewer says she’ll resist deeper education cuts
Gov. Jan Brewer says she's going to resist cuts to education funding that would be deeper than those she herself included in her proposed budget.
Critics fear ‘jobs bill’ will cut school money
Nine days after he unveiled an ambitious plan to improve the state’s public schools, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal had a vision of elephants and Alps and Roman legions.
Ariz. Senate approves new limit on state spending
A bill approved by the Arizona Senate would place a new limit on state government spending.
Arizona’s classroom spending less than US average
A state report says Arizona's school districts spend less of their operating fund in the classroom than the national average.
Bill giving sheriffs more control over budget fails in Senate
A bill meant to give county sheriffs more control over their budgets died, at least for the moment, in the Senate on Tuesday after one of its strongest advocates, Senate President Russell Pearce, failed to muster enough votes for passage.
Schools worry about property tax cuts thinning financial safety net
When the property-tax cuts in the jobs bill go into effect, the financial safety net school districts use may get significantly thinner. And the property tax cuts will be especially problematic for districts that already have reached or exceeded their bonding limits.
GOP argument: Lawmakers’ duty is to expand economy, not protect state revenues
While business groups cheer the massive tax cuts passed in the loftily titled Arizona Competitiveness Package — known to most as the jobs bill — some people who rely on that disappearing revenue are wringing their hands over what the future may hold.
Despite strong criticism, jobs bill passes
The jobs bill, announced on Monday and debated fiercely since, has passed the Arizona House and the Senate, even as many legislators acknowledged its flaws.
Possible solution to big budget problem
As the mayor of Cave Creek, I empathize with what Gov. Jan Brewer and state legislators are facing with the state’s budget deficit. Taxes can be raised only so high and spending cut only so deep before Arizonans’ quality of life suffers.
Believe it: Tuition hike is coming
When pressed about whether cuts to higher education would lead to higher tuition, the Governor’s Office hedged, but the heads of Arizona’s community colleges said the reduction is so steep they will have little choice but to propose that students pay more.
