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Headlines : Arizona
Arizona pension law ruled unconstiutional
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that a law changing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds is unconstitutional.
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Headlines : Arizona
AZ Senate panel OKs ban on collective bargaining
State lawmakers launched a broad attack today against public unions, including an absolute ban on state and local governments and school districts from bargaining with organizations that represent public workers.
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Headlines : Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona, California
States try to stretch park budgets
States are finding different ways to fund parks, including land transfers in Nebraska and reducing staff in Iowa. Officials in Arizona told officials to divest all parks that don't pay for themselves. California, meanwhile, has experienced closing of state parks.
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Headlines : Arizona
Bill would cap spending by state at last year's level
State spending would be capped at the amount of last year's budget under a guideline House Republicans are considering, triggering complaints from Democrats.
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Headlines : Arizona
Brewer budget has big impacts for state workers, contractors
Arizona is slated to enjoy a $1 billion-plus surplus, its first since 2008 thanks mostly to the last year of the temporary one-cent sales tax.
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Gov. Jan Brewer
Office of Governor Jan Brewer
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-4331
Fax: (602) 542-7601
http://www.governor.state.az.us/
John Arnold, Director
Office of Strategic Planning & Budgeting
1700 W. Washington, Suite 500
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-5381
Fax: (602) 542-0868
ospbadmin@az.gov
Sen. Don Shooter (R), Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee, dshooter@azleg.gov (602) 926-4139
Sen. Ron Gould (R), Vice-Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee, rgould@azleg.gov (602) 926-4138
Rep. John Kavanagh (R), Chair, House Appropriations Committee, jkavanagh@azleg.gov (602) 926-5170
Rep. Justin Olson (R), Vice-Chair, House Appropriations Committee, jolson@azleg.gov (602) 926-5288
Sen. Steve Yarbrough (R), Chair, Senate Finance Committee, syarbrough@azleg.gov (602) 926-5863
Sen. John McComish (R), Vice-Chair, Senate Finance Committee, jmccomish@azleg.gov (602) 926-5898
The current state budget can be found here.
Arizona is required to pass a “balanced budget." Article IX, Section 3 of the 1912 Constitution requires the legislature to initiate an annual tax to pay for any state debt within twenty-five years of the passage of the law creating that debt. Moreover, Section 5 sets the debt limit at $350,000, and Section 17 sets a spending cap for appropriations at 7% of the total state personal income. It also authorizes the legislature to override the cap by 2/3 vote. Arizona law does not forbid the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next.
The State maintains three individual major governmental funds: the General Fund; Transportation & Aviation Planning, Highway Maintenance & Safety Fund; and the Land Endowments Fund. The State prepares its operating budget on the cash basis of accounting and budgets two of the major funds the General Fund and; the Transportation & Aviation Planning, Highway Maintenance & Safety Fund; along with Non-major Special Revenue Funds. Regardless of how many funds are budgeted, Arizona does not budget revenues for any of them. [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
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Pensions :
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Arizona pension law ruled unconstiutional
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that a law changing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds is unconstitutional.
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Unions challenge Arizona on retirement contributions
Three unions have challenged an Arizona budget provision that requires many government workers to make bigger contributions to their retirement benefits while providing employers with corresponding savings.
- View All Arizona articles
Medicaid :
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HEADLINES: Arizona, Alabama, Hawaii
More states limiting Medicaid hospital stays
States defend the actions as a way to balance budgets hammered by the economic downturn and the end of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds this summer that had helped prop up Medicaid, financed jointly by states and the federal government.
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Higher education cuts likely as AZ health-care costs rise
Arizona's colleges and universities will likely bear the brunt of budget cuts forced by rapidly rising health-care costs, the state's budget director said.
- View All Arizona articles
Higher Education :
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Higher education cuts likely as AZ health-care costs rise
Arizona's colleges and universities will likely bear the brunt of budget cuts forced by rapidly rising health-care costs, the state's budget director said.
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Arizona budget: Lawmakers question universities about funding
Gov. Jan Brewer has proposed a $170 million cut to the universities for fiscal 2012, an amount that, if enacted, would amount to a 37 percent reduction in state support to the schools from the past thee years.
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Solutions: Arizona
No Taxpayer Subsidies for Public Employee Unions
the Goldwater Institute recommends that Arizona join North Carolina and other states that completely prohibit state and local government officials from contracting with public employee unions, requiring all employment relationships to be individually negotiated.
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Solutions: Arizona
Budget Reduction Opportunities 2011
. When asked for contingency plans on how they would reduce their budgets by various percentages last year, many agencies offered excellent suggestions for savings that have yet to be enacted.
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Solutions: Arizona
Defusing the Pension Bomb: Making Retirement Plans Solvent for All Public Workers
Too many games can be and are being played with public pension systems at the expense of taxpayers. The key to pension reform is to eliminate pension systems over time by converting to a 401(k) retirement benefit.
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Solutions: Arizona
$50 Billion Tidal Wave: How Unfunded Pensions Could Overwhelm Arizona Taxpayers
In a period when financial markets and institutions have appeared near collapse, the accounting methods used by public employee pensions effectively ignore risk. These accounting methods, which are used by public pensions in Arizona and around the country, allow pension fund managers to assume that high returns can be earned through stocks and other investments without taking any market risk. As a result, the true market value of Arizona pension shortfalls that must be funded by taxpayers is understated by around half of what the pension funds have reported.
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Solutions: Arizona
Arizona Budget Proposals
So far, the Governor and the GOP majority in the Legislature have cut FY11 spending to down around $9 billion. But a lot of them are hoping to fill part of the remaining gap with $900 million in one-time income from a sales tax hike that is on the May 18 ballot.
- View All Solutions
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Arizona
Arizona pension law ruled unconstiutional
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that a law changing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds is unconstitutional.
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Arizona
Unions challenge Arizona on retirement contributions
Three unions have challenged an Arizona budget provision that requires many government workers to make bigger contributions to their retirement benefits while providing employers with corresponding savings.
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Arizona
Defusing the Pension Bomb: Making Retirement Plans Solvent for All Public Workers
Too many games can be and are being played with public pension systems at the expense of taxpayers. The key to pension reform is to eliminate pension systems over time by converting to a 401(k) retirement benefit.
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Arizona
Arizona taxpayers' $650,000 inflates executive's pension
When the executive director of the Regional Public Transportation Authority retires later this year, he will receive a state pension far larger than what his time in office would produce, thanks to a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy.
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Arizona
$50 Billion Tidal Wave: How Unfunded Pensions Could Overwhelm Arizona Taxpayers
In a period when financial markets and institutions have appeared near collapse, the accounting methods used by public employee pensions effectively ignore risk. These accounting methods, which are used by public pensions in Arizona and around the country, allow pension fund managers to assume that high returns can be earned through stocks and other investments without taking any market risk. As a result, the true market value of Arizona pension shortfalls that must be funded by taxpayers is understated by around half of what the pension funds have reported.
