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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano delivers her last State of the State speech Monday with pretty much one message: Stay the course.
The governor hopes to convince lawmakers to avoid the kind of sharp cuts in spending many are considering to deal with what now has grown to be close to a $1.6 billion gap between revenues and expenses. Instead, she wants them to use her plan, one heavy on borrowing and what some consider budget gimmicks.
But the governor is speaking not so much to the Republican-controlled Legislature as she is to the constituents who elected her — twice — by large margins. And she hopes to make the case to them that the kind of fiscal maneuvers she is proposing are preferable to the loss of services, even if some elements of her plan are, in effect, really large payday loans.
“Don’t sacrifice long-term vision for short-term budget situations,” Napolitano told Capitol Media Services will be the central theme of her speech. She said while borrowing and deferring spending causes some concerns, the alternative is far worse.
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“It makes sense compared to eviscerating universities, eviscerating public education, eviscerating basic safety-net services that more and more Arizonans need to help them through this period of economic turmoil,” Napolitano said.
The governor already has given lawmakers a plan to balance this year’s budget without severe cuts. And she will present her proposal for next year’s budget next week.
But the kind of deferral of expenses and reduction in future revenues that she wants is going to be a hard sell, at least in part because there is no evidence next year will be any better. In fact, preliminary figures peg the deficit for next fiscal year at somewhere between $2 billion and $3 billion.
The problem, plain and simple, is the state is spending more than it takes in.
Lawmakers realized that last year when they prepared the current $9.9 billion budget. But they fixed it only partly with cuts.
Some of the balance came from the state’s “rainy day” fund and raids on other special accounts.
And certain expenses were taken off the books.
Part of that is borrowing for new school construction rather than paying cash. Napolitano said that move was justified, even with interest costs, because the buildings will be used over a long period.
But the package also took money scheduled to be paid to schools in state aid in June and moving it into July, which happens to be in the next fiscal year. That reduced the state budget by $330 million — and made it next year’s problem.
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who will head the House Appropriations Committee, said Arizona can’t afford any more of those gimmicks. He and Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, his Senate counterpart, are crafting options that include slashing some education funding, the largest single element of the budget.
Napolitano, however, wants not only to continue those payment deferrals but expand them. One element of her package has the state delaying payments to state universities.
And she wants to do the process in reverse.
Specifically, Napolitano wants investors to buy the right to future lottery proceeds in exchange for upfront cash now. And she has a similar plan for the state’s future share of the settlement of a nationwide lawsuit against tobacco companies.
What that means, however, is there will be less money coming in future years.
Napolitano said while she will be addressing the Legislature on Monday — that’s what the constitution requires — she said the speech also is “the one formal time each year when you address all of Arizona.”
That allows Napolitano to use her popularity to bypass the GOP-controlled Legislature and take her case directly to voters. And she hopes to convince that bigger audience that the kind of budgetary maneuvers she is proposing are a better alternative to the kinds of cuts in spending, especially in education, some Republicans are proposing.
The governor said one way she will do that is to talk about the last six years, a move to remind Arizonans “of some of the broad strokes we’ve accomplished and where we need to go.”
The fact that Napolitano is even giving a State of the State speech has caused a bit of a stir.
Napolitano, Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has said she will step aside as governor once confirmed by the Senate. That cannot occur before Obama himself is sworn in on Jan. 20.
But Napolitano also refused to leave early to give Secretary of State Jan Brewer a chance to take over and to be the one to give her vision to the Legislature and the public. She said there’s nothing improper about that.
“The point is, I am the governor,” she said. “I’m the governor until I’m confirmed for another job.”
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Here are some of the issues other than balancing the budget that likely will be considered though not necessarily approved in the upcoming session:
Fiscal control
• Amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to alter or repeal voter-approved measures.
• Reduce the constitutional state spending limit which is now linked to total state personal income.
• Permanently repeal statewide property tax for education.
• Study alternate ways of financing education and school construction.
Immigration
• Revamp the state’s employer sanctions law to make it easier for prosecutors to investigate alleged violations.
• Allow illegal immigrants to be prosecuted under state trespass laws.
• Require local police and sheriffs to do more to combat illegal immigration.
• Expand the requirement to prove citizenship for other state and local services.
Public safety
• Permit people to carry weapons into establishments that serve alcohol.
• Allow people who feel threatened to unholster their guns.
• Reduce or eliminate the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
• Reorganize the criminal code to reduce the number or length of mandatory sentences.
• Let people have a weapon anywhere in their vehicle without running afoul of concealed weapons laws.
• Ban texting while driving.
• Require motorists to move over when approaching parked tow trucks.
Health and welfare
• Alter the laws on when a teen needs to get parental consent to terminate a pregnancy.
• Make late-term “partial-birth” abortions illegal.
• Increase the legal hurdle for patients to prove malpractice for injuries that occur in hospital emergency rooms.
• Require legislative approval for new regulations that regulate greenhouse gases.
• Revamp laws on when Child Protective Service should take possession of newborns of drug-addicted mothers.
Commerce/finance
• Regulate “reverse mortgages.”
• Amend the constitution to require secret votes in union elections.
• Determine whether to continue or revamp special tax credits for video and film production in Arizona.
Transportation
• Decide whether to ask voters to hike taxes for new road construction.
• Repeal law prohibiting license plate frames that cover the word “Arizona.”
• Revisit and possibly repeal law authorizing statewide photo radar.
Miscellaneous
• Force cities to have nonpartisan elections for council
• Overrule executive order granting “meet and confer” status for state employee unions.
• Ask voters to rename office of secretary of state as lieutenant governor.
• Repeal public funding of elections.
• Revamp what has to be considered when drawing new legislative districts.
• Alter various laws on what homeowner associations can regulate.
Compiled by Capitol Media Services
Iris Lynch wrote on Jan 11, 2009 6:39 AM: