June 22 , 2009
There has really been nothing to report, at least concerning the budget fiasco, for the past two weeks. Tomorrow we face the spectacle of the Supreme Court being asked to order the legislature to do something that there is no clear Constitutional requirement to do -- i.e., deliver a bill to the Governor within a certain time period. You'll know the results before I write next week, but I plan to have some commentary on the episode. Suffice to say for now that the Speaker of the House has told me that they have made more progress with the Governor in negotiating her concerns in the past two weeks than they made in the previous three months. So it seems the leadership strategy has some merit.
In the meantime, once the Senate starting hearing bills they have been coming fast and furiously. And Senate committees have been hearing House bills as well. All but two of my bills this session have passed out of the House, and those two were deliberately held. I've had several pass out of Senate committees (including three today), and one has actually been passed by the full Senate.
So we've been busy, and it feels good to be actually accomplishing something instead of killing time. I can't believe that the policy of hearing no bills until the budget is done will ever be tried again.
One of the bills that I've held had to do with the Peach Springs school district and relieving the taxpayers in that district of a very burdensome tax rate. I am still dedicated to that effort, but this bill doesn't seem to be the vehicle to accomplish the goal. Along with House staff, I am continuing to explore other ways that this situation can be resolved -- and the solution may not required legislative action.
We're expecting long days this week as we debate and vote on the remaining House bills and those coming from the Senate. I've come to Phoenix prepared to stay over the next weekend if necessary. I am hopeful that we might actually have an agreement with the Governor within the next few days and vote out the "trailer bills" that will reconcile those already passed with what we concede to her. And that may include sending to the ballot a vote on a sales tax increase, which I firmly believe will fail. Should we pass her budget and the voters decline to increase the sales tax, will be faced with a more than $1 BILLION hole to fill. If you think we've made drastic cuts already, try to imagine the magnitude of another billion dollars.
As I said in the last report, we have provided a balanced budget without a tax increase, and I hope the Governor will finally come to recognize that it can be done. We'll see in the next few days.
Until Next Week,
Nancy
Rep. Nancy McLain
602-926-5051
nmclain@azleg.gov
Nancy McLain, District 3, Arizona House of Representatives
nmclain@azleg.gov or
nmclainbhc@aol.com