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The Whole Story
This week the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) added a new document to their Web site - FY 2011 Appropriations Report - May 2010 (5/24/10), Version with Individual Agency Links. This document contains a comprehensive report detailing the state's General Fund budget with all the recent legislative actions and passage of Proposition 100 (the temporary one-cent sales tax increase). It even includes an overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and its estimated impact to the state.
All the budget details you want to know and more can be found in this document. It looks to be a resource worth exploring.
Source: P.L.A.N.
Special Election Behind; More Ballot Measures Ahead
On Tuesday, Arizona voters approved Proposition 100, which amends the Arizona Constitution to temporarily increase the state's portion of the sales tax from 5.6% to 6.6%, effective June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2013. Approval of the measure avoids immediate budget reductions that were set to take effect if the measure failed.
In November, Arizona voters will have another opportunity to weigh in on a number of issues, including some important questions impacting the state budget. If you are not already a registered voter, you have until midnight on October 4, 2010 to get that done in order to be eligible to vote this November.
The following measures were approved by the legislature and referred to voters for consideration in November’s General Election on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Other measures may make their way to the ballot via initiative if they receive and submit enough qualified signatures by 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 1, 2010. Measures seeking changes to state law require 153,365 qualified signatures; 230,047 qualified signatures are needed for state constitutional amendments. Proposition numbers will be assigned by the Secretary of State later this summer.
Second Regular Session Referrals
SCR 1013: Lieutenant Governor; Secretary of State (Sen. Jonathan Paton, R – Tucson) Renames the Secretary of State’s Office to that of Lieutenant Governor. If approved, the change would take place in the 2014 state election cycle. The measure also has the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates of the same party run on the same ticket after a Primary Election.
SCR 1047: State Lands; Military Installation Preservation (Sen. John Nelson, R – Litchfield Park) authorizes the disposition or exchange of state trust land for the purposes of protecting and preserving military installations.
HCR 2008: Hunting and Fishing, Constitutional Rights (Rep. Jerry Weiers, R – Glendale) affirms that hunting, fishing, and harvesting wildlife is a constitutional right. The measure also prohibits the approval of any laws or rules that would restrict these activities.
HCR 2018: Initiatives; Filing Deadline (Rep. John McComish, R – Phoenix) requires that imitative petitions be filed no less than six months before a General Election. Currently, the time frame is four months.
Seventh Special Session Referrals
HCR 2001: Early Childhood Development; Health; Repeal (Rep. Kirk Adams, R – Mesa) repeals Proposition 203 (2006), a measure that funds early childhood development programs.
HCR 2002: Land Conservation Fund; Reversion (Rep. Kirk Adams, R – Mesa) sweeps the monies in the Land Conservation Fund into the state’s general fund (an estimated $123 million).
Source: P.L.A.N.
Final Stats
Governor Brewer has completed action on the bills that were on her desk. 338 bills received approval and 14 were vetoed. Status of bills can be tracked on the legislature's Web site at http://www.azleg.gov/FinalDisposition.asp.
Proposition 100
Next Tuesday, Arizona voters will determine whether to enact a three-year, one-cent sales tax. If approved, an estimated $1 billion in new annual revenue would be directed into the state's general fund to pay for services and programs, such as education, health care and public safety. If the measure fails, additional new cuts will be made to state agencies [click to see the list of specific programs that would be impacted: Summary of Enacted FY2011 Budget and FY2010 Revisions (4/09/10) pages 5 and 6].
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) prepared the following summary of the fiscal impact of ballot measure referred for the May Special Election, which appears in the ballot proposition pamphlet sent to registered voters. The following links will take you to the ballot language and statements for and against the measure:
Ballot Language
Statements For and Against
Source: P.L.A.N.
Lots of New Laws
Now that the 49th Legislature's 2nd Regular Session has adjourned, Governor Brewer has until May 11 to act on the measures that were sent to her. Bills that are signed or become law without her signature will take effect on July 29, 2010 unless the bill has an emergency clause or specific enactment date.
During this session 1233 bills were introduced, of which 352 were approved and sent to the Governor. As of now, Governor Brewer has signed 249 bills and vetoed five. When the Governor signs a bill, it is sent to the Secretary of State, who assigns each enactment a chapter number. The chapters are then recorded in the Second Regular Session of the 49th Legislature "session laws." The status of bills can be tracked on the legislature's Web site at http://www.azleg.gov/FinalDisposition.asp.
A Few Bills Of Interest
HB 2246: Regulation of Fireworks (Rep. Andy Biggs, R–Gilbert) permits the sale of consumer and display fireworks. This bill is similar to one that was vetoed by Governor Brewer last session. Other than the local preemption from regulating display fireworks, the city is concerned that more people could be physically harmed by these devices and that the state fire marshal, who is tasked to adopt and enforce rules related to the storage of fireworks, is not funded sufficiently to enforce the proposed law. This bill was transmitted to the Governor on April 26 and awaiting action at this writing.
HB 2338: Yellow Lights; Duration; Photo Enforcement (Rep. Frank Antenori, R–Tucson) initially would have impacted the use of "red light running" cameras at our intersections. The bill has now been amended to regulate only the timing of the traffic signals. HB 2338 was signed by the Governor on May 5.
SB 1135: Child Custody; Technical Correction (NOW: Aggravated Assault; Classification; Definition) (Rep. Steve Montenegro, R - Litchfield Park) elevates the crime of assaulting a code enforcement officer and state or city park ranger to the current list of aggravated assaults. This bill was signed by the Governor on May 6.
Source: P.L.A.N.
