Choice Quotes

Quotes about last night's budget process, as reported by the AZ Guardian:


Russel Pearce on the possibility of Governor Brewer vetoing the budget:

“If she is going to be so petty to veto a budget, shut down government, cost us hundreds of millions of dollars, all this discomfort for folks, if that’s what she wants to do, let her do it.” Russell Pearce said.

“It would be her responsibility. Let her take responsibility for it, because they’re her budget bills,” he said.

Representative Kyrsten Sinema on the budget process:

"This is a complete and total failure of government," said House Democratic Assistant Leader Kyrsten Sinema. "We have a Republican governor and a Republican-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House. You would think that controlling all three branches they would be able to get this work done."

Representative Steve Farley on Republicans making complex amendments moments before voting on them, refusing to yield to questions from Democratic lawmakers, and the absence of debate before the amended bills were finally passed:

"We are moving so quickly that we can't even turn the page here to see what we're voting on," said Democratic Rep. Steve Farley.

Representative Cloves Campbell on drastic cuts to education included in the budget:

"They're [Republicans] letting their fingers do the talking and I don't think they're using the one that pushes the button down here," he said.

When asked at 1:00 am on July 1st if the senate was in violation of the Arizona Constitution by not having a budget passed, Senator Bob Burnes replied:

“It is my understanding that we are still in the session day of the 30th."

And one quote that wasn't. When asked whether Republican legislator had lied to her about a budget deal, Governor Brewer did not utter a word.