Last year,
the Republicans at the Legislature negotiated the state budget behind closed
doors with little input from the public or elected Democrats. When they passed
that budget, they did so in the middle of the night. It was a deliberate
process that allowed legislative leadership to pass a bad budget with minimal
protest. The result was a budget wildly out of step with the priorities of
most Arizonans.
That night, Arizona’s
Republican leaders turned their back on their constituents, especially those
Arizonans most in need of support: teachers, students and vulnerable
children. They also cut funding for elections and we’ve
seen the results of that choice.
The 2015 budget was a
hard lesson in the importance of transparency. The question remains, however:
did Republican legislators learn that lesson?
This year, after banning
public testimony during the regular budget hearings, Republicans held a series
of town halls on the state budget. At each of those meetings, Arizonans
consistently voiced their priorities—they want more money
for education and less money for private prisons. Legislative Democrats have
the same
priorities, and have proposed policies that would reinvest in Arizona’s
innovative population, infrastructure, and abundant natural
resources.
The state currently has
about a billion
dollars available to go to work for the people of Arizona, as well as
higher-than-expected ongoing revenue. After the deep budget cuts last year, the
House Appropriations Committee chairman said, “We
will not have to enact any additional cuts for the next two fiscal years.”
But the governor’s budget proposal this year reflected the same misplaced
priorities that have characterized Republican budgets for years.
It is not yet clear
whether legislative Republicans will listen to what Arizonans have been telling
them. And, in fact, House
leadership has said no budget discussions have even occurred. Arizonans
deserve a state that will invest in them, and their state has the resources to
do so. To see a summary of the Democrats’ full, five-step plan for moving
Arizona forward, click
here.
