Resetting the Clock

My previous post outlined Arizona's budget situation, where more than a month into a new fiscal year we stand with no final budget and no actual idea when we will have one. The Senate was set to meet August 4, which it did, when it would hopefully vote on the budget, which it did not.

Instead, the Senate met for a few minutes, after which members of each party went into caucus. The Republicans found themselves with unexpected business on their hands, as the majority whip had resigned her post that morning. Being one of the holdouts on the budget, she felt she was not serving leadership well because it would be difficult for her to round up votes for a budget she did not support. While she is not a legislator with whom I share much common ground, I appreciate her honesty and clarity in this decision.

When the resignation became public, it was accompanied by reports that another senator wanted the job. However, this senator also was a non-wavering "no" vote on the budget. He felt he could round up votes. Given his opposition to the package, one wonders what votes he was expecting to corral.

So did a new majority whip emerge? A freshman senator from northern Arizona temporarily holds the position. His ability to round up votes remains to be tested -- with senators out of town, there will be no votes taken this week.

Come Monday, August 10, the Senate faces more than an increasingly angry state populace -- they are up against what appears to be the final deadline to get a sales tax increase referred to the ballot for the November 3 election. The Secretary of State has moved this deadline a few times but this appears to be the actual drop-dead date for printing and distribution of informational pamphlets and ballots. It's also been reported to be the final deadline to get pro/con statements into the informational pamphlet, but perhaps the deadline gods could smile a little on those who would like to argue for or against the temporary tax hike and give them the same kind of grace period as the Senate.

This evening -- August 6 -- an agenda item for my school board meeting was to approve our district budget. This is not the first time we have done that this year -- by statute, we must approve it before July 15 -- and the legislature has guaranteed it won't be the last. In the past, this has been a multi-step process, but not the dance marathon we are currently caught in.

In the five years I have served on this board and voted to approve budgets, we have never missed meeting the deadlines set by the Legislature. Wish we could say the same for them.