Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law an $8.6 billion budget for next fiscal year that includes increases for certain education, public-safety and health programs but also puts $450 million into a "rainy-day fund."

The Arizona Legislature approved an $8.6 billion budget for fiscal 2012-13 on Tuesday, eliciting a mix of reactions.

State lawmakers expect to debate, vote and approve an $8.5 billion budget Tuesday in a sprint toward adjournment later this week.

The $8.5 billion compromise plan for the budget year that begins July 1 is less than either side had originally wanted to spend and is projected to provide the state with a $250 million surplus.

Leaders mum on details; vote could come soon.

Arizona privatized its prison health care system this week. The Department of Corrections awarded a $349 million contract to Wexford Health Sources, Inc. to provide health-care for its approximately 34,000 prisoners for three years.

Federal and state lawmakers face increasingly dismal approval ratings and distrust, in part due to the unbridled spending bills passed recently. Bills passed at the state level, including budgets, are often passed so quickly that neither lawmakers nor the public can possibly know what each entails.

Before lawmakers could begin reviewing Republican leaders' proposed state budget this week, Gov. Jan Brewer's office said it was dead on arrival to her desk.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that a law changing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds is unconstitutional.

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.

The Arizona Legislature approved an $8.6 billion budget for fiscal 2012-13 on Tuesday, eliciting a mix of reactions.

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.

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.

Louisiana isn't the only state looking to cut higher education budgets in tough times, according to a round-up of reports.

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.

. 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.

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.

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.

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.

A stable of ideas and solutions for legislators that will help them protect individual rights, promote limited government and balance the budget during the 100 day legislative session in Arizona.

Arizona legislators continue to decry budget reductions to the Parks department, but also refuse to look at realistic alternatives and solutions, including privatization of the parks.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that a law changing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds is unconstitutional.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This all boils down to who gets to pick taxpayers' pockets first, public pensioners or municipal bond investors? More people are waking up to the hard reality that when it comes to state and local government, somebody has to lose money over the next few decades. The National Association of Bond Lawyers is worried enough about it to issue "Considerations" for advising clients who think they're getting safe investments.

Despite an organized campaign to stop public pension reform, reality is beginning to break through.  One recent report outlines a possible path to long-term solutions and another details the necessity of states and municipalities finding their own way because federal bailout is impossible.  And Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a plan that could have been based on both reports.

Hey, young public employees, what are you going to do when your pension checks bounce after you paid in for decades? That is what will happen in many - maybe all - states and municipalities sooner or later if they do not reform right now. If you want to see the future, just look at Illinois. One citizen there did, and came up with a real reform plan that might work.

Public employees should take their pension money now and run to avoid risk of getting reduced benefits - or nothing - in the future. It's the best deal for them and for taxpayers. A growing chorus of credible voices including the Government Accountability Office, a Federal Reserve bank and now the Harvard Kennedy School Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government confirm state and local government finances are "spiraling out of control" and even draconian reforms only make it "more likely" that future benefits will paid in full.

Hey, young public employees, what are you going to do when your pension checks bounce after you paid in for decades? That is what will happen in many - maybe all - states and municipalities sooner or later if they do not reform right now. If you want to see the future, just look at Illinois. One citizen there did, and came up with a real reform plan that might work.

This is what it sounds like when the Federal Reserve Bank screams: "Much has been written about the various headwinds restraining economic activity over the near term. However, our economy also has other headwinds to confront over the medium- to-longer-term. ... the finances of some state and local governments are also under stress and in need of serious adjustments."  - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto

How deep into debt have state and local politicians plunged taxpayers? Nobody really knows. The U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to find out, but a probe of just one state, Arizona, by investigative reporter Mark Flatten of the Goldwater Institute found more than $66.5 billion.

States are getting down to the nitty-gritty of budget cuts as they hack away millions of dollars in order to salvage their shortfalls. While some states are managing to balance their budget woes, others are still deliberating their budgets for the next fiscal year.