House Majority Whip Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, blasts Democrats for refusing to vote for the $194 million in budget fixes, saying they have not proposed any meaningful alternatives. (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer)
By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Without a single Democrat in support, state lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a $194 million fix to the budget, but not before some name-calling and partisan acrimony that sets the stage for the divisive regular session to come.
House Democrats accused Republicans of protecting special interests while the needy go begging. Republicans charged Democrats with political expediency. Democrats countered their alternative have been ignored. Republicans responded that their plans will only make the situation worse.
And the fighting is not over: Even with the changes ratified by the House on Saturday, which already had been approved earlier in the week by the Senate, a $1.4 billion gap remains this fiscal year between revenues and expenses. And an even bigger deficit looms for the new budget year that begins July 1.
Gov. Jan Brewer has scheduled what her office billed as an "emergency' meeting of her cabinet for Monday morning.
Press aide Paul Senseman said Brewer wants an up-to-the-minute briefing on the state's finances. And he said the governor also will review what moves she can take, unilaterally, to balance the books.
As to the package lawmakers sent to the governor Saturday, Senseman said Brewer is likely to sign it, though she wants to take the rest of the weekend to review the details which include $74 million in agency spending cuts and $120 million taken from special funds and other accounts.
He acknowledged the Democrats' concerns that it does contain some sharp cuts to programs ranging from health care for newborns to training doctors. But he said Brewer believes there aren't a lot of options.
"As the governor has said all along, it's going to take additional reductions to close this budget,' he continued. "This is one more step in the right direction, but certainly not enough.'
Brewer has called for a public vote on a temporary sales tax hike. And she supports another ballot measure to let lawmakers divert funds from voter-approved programs.
But GOP leaders could not find the votes to discuss either during the session.
Saturday's House debate and 32-22 vote -- actually a series of back-and-forth floor speeches and accusations that lasted close to two hours -- sharply highlighted the philosophical differences between the parties.
"This is a time for the tightening of belts around the waists of those who can afford it, not around the necks of those who cannot,' argued Rep. David Bradley, D-Tucson. He said caring for those in need it is "a duty that is brought upon all of us' as representatives.
And Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, chided Republicans for trying to fix the state's financial situation solely with spending cuts.
But Rep. Rick Murphy, R-Glendale, said the Democrats were looking at the problem all wrong.
"Shifting the money in this state around and having government take more of it is not going to solve our problem,' he said. What's needed instead, Murphy said, is revamping the tax system, with a particular eye of reducing property taxes on business "so that the barriers to investment that we have in this state are gone, so that we can put out the welcome mat for business to come here and create capital investment and create the kind of good jobs everybody keeps saying they want.'
House Minority Whip Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said businesses want more than lower taxes. He said they want a good education system and quality of life. But Campbell said one of the cuts approved Saturday is "going to make us the first state in the nation to have no state parks system.'
And Rep. Eric Meyer, D-Paradise Valley, said the plan approved Saturday eliminates funding for graduate medical education, a key source of new doctors for the state, especially rural areas.
Those calls to minimize cuts brought a sharp retort from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert.
"If you want to keep spending at the levels anywhere near where we've been spending ... how high do you want to set the tax rate?' he asked.
The debate, however, went far beyond philosophy.
Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said the Democrats voted against every spending reduction that came to the floor, not just this session but earlier this year.
"It may politically expedient to say, 'I voted against the cuts,' ' Yarbrough said. "But that is political gamesmanship, not statesmanship.'
And House Majority Whip Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, specifically called out Chabin for voting against a proposal earlier in the year to put a temporary sales tax on the ballot despite his call for additional revenues. Tobin called for "a little bit of honesty there from my Flagstaff compadre.'
But House Minority Leader David Lujan, D-Phoenix, pointed out that GOP plan came with strings: To get a vote on a sales tax, lawmakers would have to approve future tax cuts, many aimed largely at business.
Lujan also lashed out at Republicans for blaming Democrats, pointing out that the GOP has controlled the House since the mid 1960s and, with a handful of exceptions, the Senate nearly as long.
And Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, rebuked Republicans who said Democrats are unwilling to reduce spending. He said the only options given to them were those of the GOP's own choosing.
"Just because we oppose your cuts doesn't mean we oppose cuts,' he said. "It sounds like some members of this chamber need to take a course in logical reasoning because these are fallacious arguments.'
