As the clock neared midnight with no budget yet in place, Gov. Jan Brewer turned to the Democrats for support. For Democrats, however, it was too little, too late.

If Gov. Jan Brewer is looking for support for a 2010 run, Rep. Nancy Barto might not be the best person to turn to for support. At a legislative wrap-up breakfast today sponsored by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, emcee Chip Scutari asked a panel of Barto, Rep. Chad Campbell and Rep. John Kavanagh whom they thought would be governor in January 2011.

Although nearly every level of state government is facing a spending cut as the state grapples with a more than $3 billion deficit, those responsible for crafting the budget didn't think the time was right to give themselves a haircut.

The budget approved last week by lawmakers was stuffed with dozens of policy changes that have little, if anything at all, to do with solving the state’s massive deficit.

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.

After a tour of the state laboratory, House Democrats met April 28 to call on Republicans to restore funding to emergency health care programs to help the state combat the spread of diseases such as Swine Flu.