STATE SENATE MAY PULL AN ALL NIGHTER ON BUDGET

posted by Michael Chihak

Republican Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs convened his Appropriations Committee this morning at the Arizona Capitol and immediately set a three-minute speaking limit for the long list of people wanting to address the budget, according to the Arizona Republic.

Biggs and the committee are taking up a dozen bills that comprise the state budgets both for the rest of this fiscal year and for 2011-12. Work on the bills could be grueling, and Senate President Russell Pearce has said the Senate will act today.

"There is a very good chance we will be here until the morning hours of Thursday, because of the budget," Senate Republican spokesman Mike Philipsen said in an e-mail earlier this week in response to an Arizona Week request to schedule an interview with Biggs.

This year's budget remains more than $500 million out of balance with three and a half months to go in the year. Biggs told the Arizona Capitol Times the Senate plans to cut $118 million, which is $46 million more than the governor wants, and to let a $374 million deficit flow over into the new year.

Then, that amount plus another $1.15 billion will be cut from 2011-12 spending to balance the budget, Biggs said.

The action will be a true balance with no rollovers, Biggs and others have said. Brewer's budget borrows money on the last day of the year, pays it back on the next day in the new fiscal year and delays an educational payment until the new fiscal year, all described as "gimmicks" to produce a balanced budget.

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?

AZ STATE BUDGET GLEANINGS: BREAKTHROUGH MAY BE NIGH

posted by Michael Chihak

Thursday is the likely day this week to look for movement on a state budget for next fiscal year, Sen. Andy Biggs is quoted in the Arizona Capitol Times as saying.

In a story posted today, the Capitol Times' Jeremy Duda quoted Biggs as saying, "“I wouldn’t bet my house on it. I believe it’s going to get done by Thursday. I truly do.”

Biggs is the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, so he should know whereof he speaks.

Duda and others have reported that differences remain in the three-way discussions -- House leaders, Senate leaders and the governor -- but they are moving closer.

Brewer said last week she will stand by her pledge to keep cuts to K-12 education to a minimum. Meantime, several senators have said they want those cuts bigger to help reduce the state's borrowing and budget "gimmicks." One of those gimmicks is delaying state payment of K-12 funding until July 1, getting it out of the current fiscal year to balance the budget.

Biggs said the cuts need to be deeper than Brewer has called for so Republicans can keep their campaign promise to get the state's finances in order.

In the House, Republican Rep. Jack Harper said he and some of his colleagues don't care if the deeper cuts come from K-12 education, just so the rollovers and other gimmickry of the budget are done away with.

Assuming information will be forthcoming on the state budget in na few days, Arixzona Week will focus on it for Friday's program.

CUT HIGHER ED AND 'MORTGAGE OUR FUTURE AS A STATE'

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona Board of Regents' Chair Anne Mariucci's message is crystal clear:

"You cut into the bone of the higher education system, and you mortgage our future as a state."

Mariucci made the comment in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week, airing at 8:30 p.m. on KUAT-TV 6 in Tucson and at 10:30 p.m. on KAET-TV 8 in Phoenix.

Mariucci said she and the regents will work hard with the three university presidents to keep tuition increases to a minimum and financial aid to a maximum as they continue driving the universities for change and greater success in graduation rates.

The diverse missions that the three universities have been working on for several years are showing progress as each finds a niche in the higher education market for Arizona, she said. An accountability system that will measure freshmen retention and graduation rates and the numbers of community college transfers will help ensure continued progress, Mariucci said.

See her interview, the perspective of University of Arizona College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz and the commentary of three journalists on Friday's program. Mariucci's complete, unedited interview will be available for viewing at azweek.com Friday night.

COLLEGE TUITION INCREASES AS 'LAST RESORT' TO CUT BUDGETS

posted by Michael Chihak

The Arizona Board of regents heard the three university presidents at a budget work session Tuesday describe how they will meet an expected $170 million cut in their budgets for 2011-12.

The cut is proposed in Gov. Jan Brewer's budget, the details of which are being negotiated among Republican leaders of the Legislature.

In a press release statement issued after Tuesday's meeting, Regents Chair Anne Mariucci said, “The Regents considered today very real and painful base-budget spending reduction proposals for each of the three state universities. Arizona families and students deserve no less than the Regents’ full consideration of university spending cuts that go beyond what was once thought possible, just as Arizona families and businesses have been required to implement. Tuition increase options can and must be considered only as an option of last resort.”

The University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University already are operating under cost-reduction options that include redefining their missions, consolidating academic programs and colleges. They have absorbed $230 million in state funding cuts in the last few years.

In the last two years, Brewer allocated more than $200 million of the state's allotment of federal economic stimulus money to the universities to cover parts of the state cuts. The federal fund is now exhausted.

Arizona Week will delve into the topic on Friday's program, looking at how the cuts will affect higher education and whether tuition and fee increases can be minimized.

The regents will conduct a public hearing on March 28 on the impact of any tuition and fee increases.

CHANGING FOCUS FROM BIG BUDGETS TO SMALLER BUDGETS

posted by Michael Chihak

The Arizona Board of Regents is meeting today in Tempe for a work session "on budget and related issues," according to the agenda.

The three university presidents will present to the board information on the budget reductions they have put into place for the last three years and discuss the expected impact of the proposed reductions for the next year.

That's based on Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's proposed budget calling for $170 million in cuts to the budgets for the three universities.

Included in today's discussions will be how the universities will handle tuition increases and at what levels for the coming year, assuming the governor's budget cuts.

Additionally, the regents and the presidents will discuss continued differentiation of the missions of the three universities, speeding up consolidations and other cost-saving measures.

We will focus Friday's Arizona Week on the topic, hoping to talk with at least one member of the Board of Regents and a University of Arizona dean with the academic and educational perspective. We will assemble a panel of expert journalists to analyze and comment on the issues.

Meantime, in this space, we will provide links to relevant information, including news reports from today's Board of Regents' work session.