Arizona Budget Coalition

Although most Legislators are ready to go forward with a budget that could grind state services to a halt, the bill doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

That would be good news if Jan Brewer wasn't the missing link holding up the bill's 'progress'. Legislators still haven't met with her on the budget, but early indications from her office don't hold much hope for the thousands of Arizona families who rely the state budget for health care, education, and much more.

The Arizona Republic reports on some of the sticking points between the Governor and Legislature:

• A $220 million cut to K-12 education, after accounting for federal stimulus dollars. Brewer opposes this. Lawmakers say it's only fair that the state's largest budget item ($3.7 billion) share in the cuts. The cut amounts to 5.2 percent of the state general fund's contribution to education, or 2.2 percent if other sources (such as a voter-approved tax increase and contributions from Indian gaming revenue) are counted.

• Withholding $150 million from local governments. This includes $95 million of vehicle-license tax money that usually is shared with counties and cities. Brewer opposes shifting the state's financial woes onto local governments, which have their own problems.

• A combined cut of $90 million to the state's universities that would put the schools out of compliance with the base level of support needed to draw down more than $1 billion in federal stimulus dollars. Brewer actually proposes a bigger cut to higher education than the Legislature ($43 million vs. $40 million), but she does not sweep the $50 million from various university accounts that the Legislature does. Brewer wants the sweeps reversed.