I haven’t seen any news from Monday’s legislative session, so this post is based on Friday’s budget stalemate, where Ducey and the Republican leadership proposed a budget that would mean a $21 million net loss for our schools, and enough House Republicans balked at the cuts that the votes weren’t there to pass the budget. The somewhat-moderate Republican holdouts told the leadership: replace the school money, and show us the new language so we know what we’re voting on, and then we can talk about passing the budget.
Leadership looks like it may be ready to make a deal and replace the funds, which means, barring other problems brought up by Republicans, we may be seeing a budget shortly. But if you think the new money is going to come out of the budget surplus, which is $600 million and counting, think again. In the AZ Republican version of robbing Peter to pay Paul, they plan to rob road funds and Health Insurance Trust Fund money to pay the schools.
The increase would be covered with cuts to several areas, including a $9.5 million decrease in the amount the state will get for roads, a $5.2 million cut in the amount counties and cities will get for roads, and a $21 million transfer from the Health Insurance Trust Fund.
This is the heart of the matter. Along with the $600 million, and counting, budget surplus, there’s $430 million in the rainy day fund. That’s a total of one billion, $30 million. And they’re not even willing to round it off to an even billion to give back the money stolen from schools in the current budget proposal (which, or course, is still $350 million lower than the taxpayers demanded in 2000). Nope. If they have no choice but to replace the money they cut from schools, they plan to cut something else so that billion dollar-plus pot of money stays right where it is and keeps growing. That’ll allow Ducey to say, “We’re taking more tax dollars from the hard working people of Arizona than we need. It’s time to give some of it back” — after which he’ll whisper, “Give it back to corporations and my rich friends and supporters, that is. Screw the [suppressed laughter] ‘hardworking people.'”
The bottom line is, there will never be enough money to fund this state properly, or anywhere near properly (and I’m not just talking education. Met any potholes lately?) so long as giving money back to those who need it least is the primary goal of Ducey and the rest of the Republican leadership. The surplus could double, and that would just give them even more money to funnel back to the rich.
The only way to change the scenario is to counter the “endless tax cuts” meme by saying that the wealthiest among us aren’t paying their fair share and we need to raise their taxes so we have enough funds to do what’s necessary to put our infrastructure in order, help those who are most in need of help, and provide our children the education they deserve. That idea won’t get out there by itself. People who believe it and are in positions of power and influence need to repeat it loudly and often. Bernie Sanders is saying it. Hillary Clinton is saying it. Warren Buffett is saying it. People in Arizona who agree need to join in.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2016.
Bottom line is there will never be enough money to fund this state properly as long as we are picking up the tab for tens of thousands of illegals filling the seats. And we will never empty those seats because too many liberals are stuffing their pockets with the money confiscated from the taxpayers, even knowing that 85% of the females illegally crossing the border are raped.
Dave, with all this ‘new’ (been going on for years) information I hope you will change your view and vote NO on 123.
State budget problems are not the reason PC can’t fix potholes. Wasteful projects, programs and theft have left our roads in disrepair. We are beginning to look a lot like Mexico.
Once you tax and kill off the rich, who’s next? You can only punish success for so long.
You want to end the countless cuts and good-ol’ boy politics, that’s easy…after every term bounce the incumbents out on their butts regardless of how they performed. When they realize public service is a temporary service, much like jury duty, and not a career choice, maybe they will start being more responsive to their fellow citizens instead of treating the electorate as a revenue stream.
Thats right David. And one way to say it is to counter the latest “pay my friends and screw the poor and young…” and vote NO on 123. Its not about school funding. Its about legislative theft.
And about those “somewhat moderate Republicans”, I would tone down the partisanship….as a person really interested in seeing our schools funded, I am outright happy for the help from a few courageous outliers who are willing to buck their own party on this one instead of giving them faint praise. I still remember the so-called “non-partisan” education funding town hall at Catalina High where one of the “somewhat moderate Republicans” who happens to be really good on education was relegated to sitting in the audience while the Democrats, who are all just NOW practicing non-partisanship by supporting Prop 123 (in the name of the–yes, grossly underpaid–teachers) dominated the stage and patted themselves on the back for all the great things they are doing for the schools. If we really wanted to help the teachers our local (D) Education Heroes would stop spending all of our money on retaining administrators and the Superintendent, , and start putting more of it into retaining the people who really do the work of public schools–teaching the kids.
Republicans want to give the state away to corporate CEOs, Democrats want to give it away to illegal aliens. We just want our roads fixed.
SGSMITH even jurors have become a problem, once liberalized we get ridiculous verdicts. Because it’s not their money.
Props. 123 and 124 are glaring examples of what is meant when people say our politics are “broken.” 123 is pure and simple blackmail — do what we want or we’ll continue spending your tax dollars to keep you tied up in court and continue to violate the law — the LAW approved by voters — mandating funding of public education. And why? So the politicians can gift private schools and corporations.
Prop. 124 would solve the problem of underfunded public safety pension plans by cutting benefits. That breaks the promise made to those who risk their lives for us when they were hired. It is bad faith to rob our law enforcement officers and firefighters of benefits they earned. Instead of trying to eliminate corporate taxes, how about getting the fat cats to pay their fair share?
May 17: Vote no. Twice. And in November, vote for real change.
The idea of single terms for officeholders — it’s public service not a career — sounds good but might not work very well. We would continue to have ongoing governmental machinery at every level; call it bureaucracy if you will. Officeholders would not be in place long enough to master the systems and the unelected officials would become ‘deciders’ rather than executors of decisions made by our elected representatives. And don’t forget ALEC. Many of us deplore its current role in state government. That role would only expand if legislators were less prepared to do their jobs and had but a single term in which to accomplish anything. If we would vote out the folks whose antics in office dismay us and keep those who truly serve the public, we’d be on our way to reasonable and responsible government in Arizona. For starters, how about thanking Senator Yarborough for his service and sending him home to a full time job running a very profitable tuition tax credit enterprise, something he engineered as a legislator and continually seeks to expand through the legislative process. Rather than sending him home, rumor has it he’s in line to become President of the Senate next year unless the minority party gains a majority of Senate seats.
And they won’t. But I do agree with your sentiments in so far as the “one and done” theory. It might be packed for mercenaries, or kamikazi pilots if you will, for lack of some better terms. You can’t keep changing rules because you don’t like the outcome. You complained about that when the State did not give education the money voters approved.
AVL Americans sat silently by as the Congress and the President (at that time) took away SSI benefits from all Americans by increasing the full retirement age. That was just another in a long line of broken promises.
Municipal governments were trying to make up the shortfall on budget contributions which further robbed the citizenry at large of needed government supports, like fixing potholes. The Fire and Police support this change because they know if not fixed the alternative is worse.
Besides, a Fire Fighter earning $90,000 per year was retiring at 75% of his pay after 20 years of service. You can not sustain that level of payout, because you could have three generations of retirees collecting benefits. And one working which costs approximately $300,000 per year.
RAT T, that usually applies to civil court cases, which are a whole other issue; However, I do agree that some of the juries we end up with can be questionable, but that is more about the prosecution and the defense trying to stack the deck. Kind of like too many in government wanting an ignorant and disenfranchised electorate to make sure they can keep on making their corporate and special interest buddies happy.
Franklymydears — the idea that it takes special knowledge and experience to serve is an old one and based on the state of politics today I’d say it doesn’t work anymore. It doesn’t matter how educated, professional or selfless individuals representatives may be, as long as the corporations and special interests have exclusive access to those allegedly making the decisions, the rest of the public will have to go to the back of the bus – even as those supposedly in charge drive it off the cliff. How much legislation is drafted in back room deals with corporations and special interests and worded in such a way that an NSA cryptologist couldn’t decipher it? Remember the original “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”? It was all about using a good person to get bad laws passed, and when he didn’t play along they crushed him. Of course Hollywood gave it a happy ending, but if you are waiting for a happy ending from Phoenix, or Hollywood East (Washington, D.C.) for that matter, you are going to be waiting for a very long time.
I’m sure that our Koch funded state government and governor will continue to follow the path of their cohorts in Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc. Cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, privatizing K12 education, privatizing prisons and driving public unions to the ground, etc.
There is an alternative that actually worked for another state – http://mic.com/articles/111424/2-years-aft…
You guys make it sound like liberals don’t set up their own centers of income while in office. Do you really think we don’t see what you guys do? Who do you think taught us? It was Algore.