AZ SENATE MAY TRIGGER BUDGET SHOWDOWN

posted by Michael Chihak

Republican legislators in Arizona want more cuts than GOP Gov. Jan Brewer has proposed in her 2011-12 budget, saying the state must enter the new fiscal year without borrowing.

Brewer's budget proposal includes roughly $500 million in borrowing, or as some call it, rollovers and other gimmicks to balance the budget.

Those would include borrowing $330 million from the First Things First program this fiscal year, then repaying it right after the start of the next fiscal year. The other key figure is delaying a big payment to the state's K-12 public schools until after July 1.

Without permanent cuts or revenue increases, those rollover borrowing mechanisms would have to be repeated every year.

Brewer wants to do so this fiscal year and next, saying she is committed to keeping K-12 budget cuts to a minimum. Republican senators want education cuts to eliminate the rollovers, and pushing their budget out before there's an agreement is likely their way of forcing the issue.

Over in the House, the feeling is the same: Eliminate the borrowing rollovers. But Republicans there are mess adamant about the money coming from education, with one representative saying he doesn't care where the cuts are made, just so there's no borrowing. At the same time, House members say they aren't ready to move on a budget proposal, at least not this week.

If Senate President Russell Pearce is to be believed -- and who wouldn't given his vice grip on power in the Senate -- then the Senate's budget cut proposal due out Wednesday will lead the way and set the tone for the negotiations from this point forward.

The keys will be: How strong can Brewer stand on her desire to keep education funding where she wants it? How staunchly will she defend it, including the threat of a veto? Can the Senate and House come together on a plan that keeps their veto-proof majorities intact, if it comes to that?