Another week when not much "legislating" was done.  We did act on several Senate bills, passing most but not all.  One that failed would have required an additional audit of the light rail system currently being built in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. I'm not a fan of light rail -- I don't believe it will gain the ridership being projected and is therefore not a good use of resources -- but the voters of Maricopa County voted it in and increased their sales tax to pay for it, so it's my feeling that the Legislature should not keep harrassing the project. 

My bill for amateur radio is dead for this year.  I never received the changes that the group representing HOAs wanted me to make to keep them from opposing the measure.  Without their support, the Senator to whose bill I was going to add the provisions of 2595 would not agree to the amendment.  That bill went through the House last week, and there is nothing still pending to which I could add 2595.  I will be prepared to offer the same bill next session.

The bill to create a sales tax district for Oatman is still languishing in the Senate.  I checked with President Bee's chief of staff (who I know from when he worked in the House), and he told me that it wasn't being held for any particular reason -- they just hadn't gotten around to hearing it in Committee of the Whole.  After I explained how urgent it was that this measure get out so the folks could start planning for the required election, Victor assured me he would try to get it moving.

The chances for my residential sewer tax credit being included in the budget aren't looking good.  The Speaker seemed to be supportive at first, but in our last conversation he indicated that he was reluctant to approve a tax measure that would extend out for five years.  I'm not sure I am convinced by his reasoning, but any tax credit can't go forward without his support.

There will be a special meeting of the Appropriations Committee on Monday (4/30) to hear the "budget bills."  The state's budget is not one document, but usually about 15 separate bills that contain appropriations for various categories of state spending.  Leadership feels that they have enough of a consensus to get these bills out of committee and passed on the floor.  Once passed out of the House, there will have to be a conference to reconcile with the Senate version.  I've heard that the Senate budget calls for higher spending with funds coming various sources.  Details haven't been released yet, but the one thing that is for certain is that neither budget plan resorts to bonding for school construction.  It also appears that the Governor has given up on this -- much of the additional money she wanted for social programs was to come from the $130 million needed to build new schools this fiscal year.  I should be able to give you a more complete outline of the proposed budget next week.

Until then,

Nancy McLain