The Senate and the House approved a plan on May 13 that suspends a payment of $300 million to school districts until the next fiscal year and instead allows them to tap into their excess cash balances to cover ongoing expenses. The plan is part of a two-bill package aimed at solving a $650-million budget deficit in fiscal 2009.

A legislative panel may have spent the better part of seven hours debating, amending and approving a package of budget bills, but that doesn't mean action on a plan to solve a roughly $3 billion deficit is imminent. Rather, many lawmakers say the significance of the committee's work is that it sets the stage for progress to be made.

A budget crafted by House Republicans has cleared the first hurdle, gaining committee approval May 5 by a party-line vote, though it is unclear when the proposal will be taken up by the entire chamber.

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.

Dear Governor Brewer: For the last two months, we have met with your staff on a regular basis to discuss ongoing budget issues, tax reform and progress related to the federal stimulus funds. Concurrently, members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have continued their work toward a legislative budget proposal. We have spent considerable time with the members providing educational opportunities so that they would have the information needed to make budget decisions

A lawmaker half-jokingly predicted several weeks ago that this year’s legislative session might turn out to be the session that never ends. For now at least, it is shaping up to be the session of cancelled budget hearings.

Charles Harper married his high-school sweetheart, Charlotte, 20 years after graduation. They had rekindled an old romance at a high school reunion. The couple lived in a nice Mamaroneck, N.Y., townhouse and had good jobs. Things changed, though, one day in early 2001 when Charlotte was walking to work. She collapsed when an aneurysm burst in her brain stem, and a blood clot left her paralyzed on the left side.

The biggest differences between the Republican budget proposal released April 27 and a draft leaked to the press a month earlier were two components designed to generate more than $500 million in revenue without raising taxes. And those two ideas have created the biggest backlash against the latest proposal.

Republican lawmakers have released a budget proposal they say will balance a $3.3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes or borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead, they will rely heavily on cuts to education funding and municipalities.

For the second time in two weeks, the Senate canceled a committee hearing on the budget - this time because it doesn't appear Republican leadership has enough votes to pass the proposal.