LET'S GET BACK TO NORMAL

posted to Rappaport's Notebook by Robert Rappaport

The start of the new year didn't turn out well. Most likely, the top story for all of 2011 already has happened. Surely, the mass shootings of Jan. 8 will go down as the top local story and the top national story.

I won't use this space to rehash the constant barrage of news you've been hearing on the topic, only to say covering all sides of the story has been harrowing and I'm not sure what's really left to say.

I must admit it was nice to finally report on other stories as things settled down a bit, but aspects of this story no doubt will linger for weeks, month and even beyond.

Let's all hope for a nice rest of the year.

ARIZONA BUDGET CUTS COMING; HOW WE GOT INTO THIS MESS

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Gov. Jan Brewer's proposals to balance this fiscal year's budget and set a budget for next fiscal year include a series of onerous cuts to education and health care. Public safety, in the form of money for state prisons, would increase under Brewer's proposal.

The Legislature will begin vetting it this week, and on Arizona Week, we will talk with key legislators getting involved in the process.

Republicans are blaming Democratic former Gov. Janet Napolitano for huge increases in state spending in her six years in office, 2003-2008, or the mess Arizona is in. Certainly, spending rose sharply in those years, with three consecutive years of 15-percent plus increases in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

All this occurred on the cusp of the great recession, making the effects even more pronounced as the state went into an unprecedented cyclical revenue reduction that saw 30 percent of state revenues go away.

But before that, the stage was set by Republicans in a series of tax cuts over 15 years -- back to 1995, that effectively cut state revenues as a share of personal income nearly in half.

Economist Matthew Murray of the University of Tennessee studied Arizona's situation at the behest of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. Murray found that in 1995, state tax revenue per $1,000 of personal income was about $50. In 2010, after steady declines and a series of major income tax cuts and one significant property tax cut, that fell to about $27 per $1,000 of personal income.

Another way to look at it is that residents were paying about 5 percent of their personal income to the state in taxes in 1995, and by 2010, they were paying about 2.7 percent.

In Murray's words, via e-mail: "Personal income measures the size of the economy, but since it is 'resident based' income, i.e. income earned by residents, it also reflects your ability to pay taxes and thus fund government services. In short, you are spending less and less of your income in support of government. This is a rather dramatic reduction especially in such a short period of time."

Combine that factor with the steady and sometimes dramatic increases in state spending, and we have the current situation -- a structural deficit in the order of $2 billion or more, with no rebounding economic cycle. And even if there were a rebound, it wouldn't help without long-term adjustments in both revenue and spending.

Hence, when it comes to finger pointing, everyone should get a share of the blame.

SHOOTING TRAGEDY OUTCOMES? CIVILITY? MORE GUNS?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Last week's tragic shootings in Tucson have driven several political issues to the surface in Arizona, and nationally.

Several politicians have used the tragedy to call for civility in political discourse as a way to be true to oneself and others, as Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams said, and to honor the memories of those who died, as President Obama said.

How long that will last is up for question. The journalists analyzing and commenting on tonight's debut edition of Arizona Week weren't certain that it would have "legs" beyond the realm of shock and mourning that Tucson, Arizona and the nation are undergoing.

Another issue brought to the fore is that of gun availability and gun control. On that, Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce is adamant that nothing will lead to any rollback of 2nd Amendment rights in the state. And the commentators on Arizona Week agreed, with Robert Robb of the Arizona Republic saying that it simply won't happen.

ARIZONA'S IMAGE: DO POLITICS, EVENTS DRIVE IT?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Friday's debut program of Arizona Week will take a look at how recent news events and political developments may be shaping Arizona's image as a state.

The program will include interviews with Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce and Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams and commentary and analysis by two journalists, Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb, via satellite from Phoenix, and Arizona Public Media online producer Gisela Telis, joining us in Studio A.

Arizona has been in the national spotlight on an almost ongoing basis of the recent past for a series of political decisions, precedent-setting court cases and culminating in last week's tragic shooting rampage in Tucson.

Other issues that have called attention to Arizona: passage of SB1070 last year by the Arizona Legislature requiring local officers of the law to enforce immigration laws; a court decision that the state's voter-approved Clean Elections system is unconstitutional; a court challenge to the state's tax-credit program for private schools; introduction earlier this month of proposed legislation to challenge the precedent that the 14th Amendment grants automatic citizenship to those born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally.

ARIZONA WEEK

posted to From the General Manager by Laura McKee

This month we launch a new series Arizona Week, whose charge is to convene positive and constructive dialogue around the issues that are of greatest importance to all Arizonans, whether you live in Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, Yuma, or at points between.

Veteran newsman and former publisher of the Tucson Citizen, Michael Chihak, will interview newsmakers and then host the best journalists in the state, bringing depth and perspective to the top issues of the week and go even deeper with its on-line components. AZweek.com and Michael’s blog, Chihak’s Channel, are up and running with behind the scenes information.

One of the objectives for this series is to engage audiences online, providing opportunities for you, the viewer, to help select topics and eventually to ask a guest or journalist questions on topics of interest to you. We are committed to developing more than a traditional television and radio experience for our audiences, and your input will be critical to the program’s success.

The series will air each Friday evening at 8:30 p.m. on PBS-HD Channel 6, following Washington Week and preceding Need to Know, the new online/broadcast public affairs series from PBS, and webcast on azpm.org. The series will encore at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning together with Washington Week (10:00 a.m.), in addition to numerous other broadcasts throughout the weekend on PBS World (Channel 27-3, Cox 83, Comcast 203), the UA Channel (Cox 116, Comcast 76) and VOD online anytime at Play PBS.

The series will also be carried on sister PBS station KAET Channel 8 in Phoenix and soon on the Maricopa Community College Cable Channel, in an effort to convene true statewide dialogue. We expect to produce a radio version of the weekly program for sister NPR stations in the coming months.

Both Michael and I look forward to your comments and suggestions as we build this program to deliver the information you need on the important issues facing our community and state. Please tune-in on Friday’s at 8:30 p.m. on PBS-HD Channel 6 or online and let us know what you think.

On behalf of all of us at AZPM, thank you for your continued support.

MORE CIVILITY ON ITS WAY IN ARIZONA POLITICS?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams opened his chamber's legislative session with words of conciliation, condolence and healing.

He praised U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, honored those who died and condemned the heinous act as one that was meant to "incite terror in the hearts of Arizonans and all Americans."

He also called for a more civil tone among his colleagues.

"For me, it is a cold reminder that ... second chances to seek forgiveness and repair relationships sometimes never come," Adams said. "That the defining difference between civil society and anarchy is the ability to respect and value those with whom we disagree.

"It is my prayer that this lesson re-learned will be evident in the communications of this body and in our society."