Governor tightens lid on spending

Gov. Janet Napolitano put a new roadblock in some state spending Wednesday in an effort to keep the fiscal crisis from getting any worse.

Napolitano said she barred all state agencies under her control from awarding any new contracts of more than $50,000 unless they first get approval of the state Department of Administration. She also is requesting that the state Board of Regents, which controls the three universities, do the same.

The governor said the move is designed to make sure that state agencies do not spend money just because they have it in their budgets. Declines in tax revenue since the fiscal year started July 1 have resulted in projections that the $9.9 billion spending plan could be up to $1 billion in the red.

The move comes months after the governor imposed a hiring freeze and told those heading state agencies to cut all nonessential spending. But Napolitano said the hard-and-fast cap on the contracts did not mean she believes that some agencies are finding ways around that edict.

"I picked the $50,000 number because you've got to be able to keep ordering supplies and things of that nature," she said.

"But we want to make sure that nothing above that level goes forward just on the assumption that it always has and it always will," the governor said.

Napolitano said she also has reminded agency chiefs of an "ongoing obligation" to cut all unnecessary expenses.

The governor also said she has an agreement with Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, and House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, to start working on a revised budget right after next month's election.