Brewer Refuses To Sign Other Legislation Until Budget Is Acceptable
The budget plan approved Tuesday by the Arizona Senatecould be headed for a veto from the governor. Gov. Jan Brewer is laying down the law to Arizona legislators, telling them she will not sign any other bills until an acceptable budget arrives on her desk. And, it appears the spending plan approved Tuesday in the state Senate does not meet that standard.
Her spokesman Andrew Wilder said Brewer is unhappy with delays the Senate wrote into the budget for additional child welfare spending. He said leaving those decisions until after creation of a new Department of Child Welfare and Family Services also doesn’t work for her. He said the governor is about out of patience.
“Left unaddressed, it raises doubt whether or not it will ultimately be signed by the governor," Wilder said.
In addition, the Senate plan includes fewer dollars for district charter schools and the state’s three universities. University of Arizona supporters, like Tucson Sen. Steve Farley, are calling the measure unfair since it takes away most of the money the university saved, by refinancing its debt.
“Why would they work so hard to save so much money if they're not going to be able to put it to good use and it's just going to get into our great slush fund up here?" Farley said.
The Senate-passed budget gives the U of A the same amount of state funding as Arizona State University received, 1.25 million, even though it saved 5.5 million by refinancing the debt. The rest goes to the state treasury. Northern Arizona University gets $500,000 under the Senate spending plan.
