Budget effort screeches to halt

Efforts to start plugging the $2 billion hole in the state budget came to a screeching halt Thursday when two Republican lawmakers refused to support the plan.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, said he actually supports the main piece of legislation, which would trim $300 million in state spending. In fact, Gould said he wants to slash more from the budget.

But Gould and Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, are opposed to another part of the package that would give agency directors the power to raise fees without getting legislative approval.

The idea behind that bill is to have those departments become more financially self-sufficient. It would reduce their need for tax dollars, freeing up that cash for other state priorities.

The pair, however, were unable to block approval of that measure when it came up for a vote, as a majority of both Republicans and Democrats support the fee hikes. So Gould then refused to vote for the separate bill with the budget cuts; Verschoor did not show up to vote at all.

That left Republicans short of the necessary 16 votes for final Senate approval, as no Democrat supports the spending cuts and one Republican, Sen. Barbara Leff of Paradise Valley, has been away all week on a cruise.

Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, then sent lawmakers home until Monday.

It remained unclear whether Burns will have the necessary GOP votes next week to pass the budget without Gould or Verschoor. But Gould said he believes Senate leadership will have to give in to his demands and kill the legislation with the fee-hike authorization.

Gould was unapologetic for bringing the process to a halt.

“Sometimes extreme times take extreme measures,” he said.

The fight surrounds what has been the recent trend of lawmakers forcing state regulation to pay for itself.

Legislators previously directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to adjust its licensing fees to cover its costs. That resulted in a plan finalized earlier this week to boost what it charges child care centers from $150 every three years to as much as $7,800, though discounts would be available to operations that provide healthy meals and program.

But Gould said it’s wrong to give agency chiefs carte blanche.

“Just because they’ve determined that they want to have that much regulation or spend that much money on regulation doesn’t make it right,” he said. “The only way that you keep government inside of its box it to keep a cap on the purse strings. If we give them control of the purse strings, what motivation do they have to actually make their operation efficient?”

Gould said the fact that the health department agreed to discount its fees for child care centers that provide certain programs does not mean the system works. He said it amounted to financial blackmail of owners and operators to engage in “social engineering” of children.

The meltdown came as Gov. Jan Brewer was not in Arizona, instead attending a meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Austin, Texas. But spokeswoman Kim Sabow said the problems that developed were not related to her absence, saying Brewer was “in constant contact” with lawmakers.

And she noted that the governor returned to the Capitol Thursday afternoon and was making contact with legislative leaders.

Democrats acknowledged that some spending cuts are necessary, but they blasted the Republican majority for failing to consider other options, including borrowing and tax cuts.