Budget Update

FY10 budget passes the Arizona Legislature--bills to be sent to the Governor

Budget update- 3:05AM Wednesday (unless you look at the clocks in the Senate where the time remains 11:59PM)

In the early morning hours, the House and Senate passed the fiscal year 09-10 budget trailer bills. These bills, along with those passed on June 4, will now be transmitted to the Governor. There is much speculation at this point as to what the Governor is going to do. One rumor is that she will veto all the bills and call the legislature into a special session set to begin tomorrow (err...today, Wednesday). The other rumor is that the Governor will line-item veto the general appropriations bill. One thing is certain, if the Governor does nothing but sign these bills, she will lose all credibility since she pledged that she would not sign any budget bills without the sales tax vote for November. The legislature failed to vote on the sales tax referral which was the linchpin of the budget deal the Governor negotiated with the Republican Leaders. The Republican Legislative Leadership failed to deliver the necessary 16 Senate and 31 House Republican votes on this item. On a positive note, they did not pass the flat tax proposal.

There were over 100 teachers and school employees who packed the House and Senate galleries tonight in protest of this budget. To these people, I am extremely grateful for your participation. Unfortunately, this may just be round one, but we will be seeing it through to the end making sure our voices are heard.

For the votes...

The Democrats in both the House and Senate were firm "NO" votes in opposition to the entire budget. In addition to their votes, Republican Representatives Lucy Mason (LD 1), Doug Quelland (LD 10), and Senators Carolyn Allen (LD 8) and Ron Gould (LD 3) also opposed the K-12 budget bill.

For the revenue (tax policy) bill, the Democrats opposed as did Republican Senators Jay Tibshraeny (LD 21) and Carolyn Allen.

The AEA sincerely appreciates the legislators who took a stand and voted "no" on these budget bills.

Jennifer Loredo

Arizona Education Association

345 E. Palm Lane

Phoenix, AZ 85004