No April Fool's Day Joke: House and Senate Approve Deep Cuts to Education

Arizona Education Network Newsletter ~ Friday, April 1, 2011


We wish we could tell you this is an April Fool's joke, but it's not.

The House and Senate today passed a budget that eliminates $183.2 million from K-12 and $270.8 million from universities and community colleges for a total of $454 million in cuts to education in Arizona. The budget was a compromise negotiated between Gov. Brewer and the Legislature. Brewer did not keep her commitment to hold the line on education cuts --agreeing to $115 million more in cuts than she proposed in her budget.

In addition, the House passed SB1614, which effectively cuts teacher salaries by requiring teachers to pay more into their pension plans. Previously, the teachers and districts split those payments 50/50. Now, teachers must pay 53 percent. District savings will be offset by a reduction in the aid received by the district--amounting to additional cuts by the state.

Read more here.

Former Intel CEO warns lawmakers that education cuts will harm AZ's economy

Just days before the cuts, former Intel CEO Craig Barrett told Brewer and legislators that Arizona's low level of investment in education is damaging the state's economy. Barrett said that if Intel was relocating now, Arizona would not even be in the top 10 states considered.

"Quality education is extremely important to a place like Intel," Barrett said. "(The) education cutbacks don't bode well for that." To attract "those high-paying jobs - the jobs that pay two to three times the average - look for your educational infrastructure to be the key," he said.

Read more here.
Arizona Education Network Press Release on Education Cuts

Governor Brewer yesterday showed complete disregard for our state's faltering economy when she failed to defend public education funding as she had promised she would.

On Tuesday, former Intel CEO Craig Barrett, warned legislators that Arizona will not be able to attract good -paying jobs without investing in education. He warned that Arizona's "education cutbacks don't bode well for that."

Yet, the House, in the dead of night --after striking a compromise with Brewer and the Senate - the House pushed through $454 million in cuts to education funding. They also cut teacher salaries by increasing the amount teachers must pay into their pension plans.

Schools across the state had been planning their budgets for next year based on Brewer's proposed budget. But her failure to stick up for her own plan is now going to push school districts, our community colleges and universities into last-minute, emergency plans based on much deeper cuts than expected for the coming school year.

Not only will the budget cuts damage the state's economy in the long-term, there will also be short-term hits as schools, colleges and universities eliminate thousands of jobs.
To read the full press release click here.

Another AEN Adventure in Live Blogging: AZ House begins work on budget

Welcome to another grand AEN live-blogging adventure! Your blogging team live-blogged the events and activities of the House, which began sometime around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, and wrapped in the wee small hours of the morning on Friday, April 1. The earliest post begins way down towards the bottom of the page.  As you page down through the festivities, your patience and forgiveness for various typos or grammatical errors is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

AEN Blogging Team

________________________________________________________________



3:46 a.m. We're heading into another COW calendar. Again, the link is here.

Folks, while this is great fun, we are in sore-need of some beauty sleep. We'll have a summary on our website soon.

Also, our newsletter should go out sometime tomorrow afternoon. Be sure you've joined our mailing list!

**Just to clarify any confusion with prior posting of figures/cuts: In this budget--a compromise between the House and Senate leadership, and Governor Brewer--$183M will be cut from K-12 funding, and $198M will be cut from the funding for state's universities and community colleges.

Our apologies for any confusion prior postings may have caused. And with that, thank you for joining us for this adventure in live-blogging!


3:21 a.m. House COW underway.

2:58 a.m. Movement in the House. Everyone looks a little rested. Arizona Students' Association tweeted there will be 18 floor amendments.

Live video from the House Floor here.

2:49 a.m. Well, twenty minutes and no one's milling anymore.

2:21 a.m. A few House members have been spotted milling around on the House floor.

Looks like we're going sunset to sunshine, folks.

1:22 a.m. No movement on the House floor. Won't expect any activity until 2 a.m. Will see how much longer we can hang. Sense a second wind coming.

12:45 a.m. Some word is getting out that the Senate will be voting on the budget at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Wait. Did we say, "tomorrow"? How silly...of course we meant TODAY! Blame it on the moon. Or the exhaustion. Whatever.

Presently, there isn't a confirmation of the Senate's schedule change on the leg website.

AZ Republic report on the budget here.

12:22 a.m. Caucus meetings wrap up for both R's and D's. Word is the House will go to the floor to vote at 1:30 a.m. Members will take an hour siesta.

If you're still awake and fighting sleep, you can review the JLBC fiscal analysis of the budget going before the full House here.

House Floor Session can be watched here.

11:27 p.m. Caucus meetings are still underway, as Joint Legislative Budget Council makes presentation of the cuts to various state programs/agencies. We're listening while trying to get our newsletter ready for distribution tomorrow.

JLBC reports cut to K-12 will equal $183 million. Cut to universities will be $198 million.

If House goes to Committee of the Whole (COW) while the toothpicks are still holding our eyelids wide open, we'll post here. If not, we'll leave the link here, should there be any insomniacs out there.

10:45 p.m. Speaker Adams just announced that following caucus meetings, the budget will proceed for a full vote of the House. Not tomorrow. Tonight. For real. This is not an April Fool's joke. Sadly.

10:24 p.m. House Rules has adjourned.

Up next: Caucus meetings.

House R's will Caucus in House Hearing Room 1. Watch here.
House D's will Caucus in House Hearing Room 2. Watch here.

We don't advise trying to watch them both at the same time. ;)


10:14 p.m. House Rules is underway.

10:05 p.m. SB1624 passes, 9-3. Now all thirteen bills move through House Rules Committee. Live feed for House Hearing Room 4, where rules will meet, is here. This should go rather quickly and then the House should adjourn for the evening.

9:43 p.m. SB1623 passes, 9-3. On to the final bill of the evening, SB1624, environment budget. We're on our way to the finish line, folks! Oh, you're so awesome to have hung with us this long.

9:35 p.m. SB 1621 passes, 9-3. Now SB1622, the general government budget. SB1622 passes, 9-3.

9:04 p.m. SB1621 up now; criminal justice budget.

8:58 p.m. SB1619 passes, 9-3 without the Tovar Amendment. Now on to SB1620. This bill will reduce max. income eligibility for child care assistance and require Department of Economic Security to screen/drug test each adult recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Considering the subject of the legislation, we're betting this one is going down, 9-3.

8:54 p.m. House Appropriations hearing room looks pretty empty. Late hour. Remember, we have 5 more bills to go through this hearing before the entire budget goes to the House Rules Committee. The entire budget will likely not be voted on by the full House this evening, rather will go to House Committee of the Whole tomorrow morning.

8:28 p.m. SB1618 passes, 9-3. Per Arizona Students' Association: amendment was offered as supported by ASA to save financial aid. Amendment passed appropriations.

They are on to SB1619, which addresses Arizona's AHCCCS program.

Rep. Tovar offered an amendment that would pay for transplants at no cost to the state; private funds would be used. Chairman expressed that the late arrival of the amendment made it a challenge to give a thorough vetting in committee. Late arrival of amendment due largely, if not wholly, to the availability of the strikers to members of the minority party. With that said, the amendment has been tabled so that it can be analyzed and given a chance to be adopted.

8:22 p.m. SB1617 passes, 9-3. On to SB1618, higher education.

8:10 p.m. A lot of data being discussed in tonight's committee hearing. Very frustrating, as some of the same flawed talking points from '09 have been resuscitated re: per-pupil expenditures and where AZ falls nationally. We've already rebutted this, folks.

"Response to ATRA's K-12 Education Funding Comparison" (June 2009)

"AZ Schools--Examination of the Facts" (June 2009)

8:01 p.m. Committee is getting ready to vote on SB1617. It's impossible to find words to summarize some of the comments that have been made.

7:35 p.m. Rep. Williams asking Ms. Loredo about percentage of dollars making it to the classroom.

Ms. Loredo says the size of the "pie" being appropriated to schools is impacting the ability of how many dollars actually are available to get into the classroom. Additionally, other issues (like heating and cooling) and various outside factors, with fewer funding, there are simply fewer dollars to stretch into the classroom.

7:26 p.m. Jennifer Loredo is up again for the AEA, to remind about the organization's support for Prop 100 and how these cuts are going to impact the classrooms in schools across the state.

Rep. Campbell asks Ms. Loredo about the per-pupil funding and how the cuts are going to play out.

Ms. Loredo says different things are going to play depending upon the school district. Declining enrollment districts are going to have some hard decisions to make. No way to hold off any of these cuts from making it into the classroom. Two big funds: one is soft capital (supplies, technology); 80% of soft capital off of the table, making it highly probable teachers are going to pay out of their pocket for supplies. Another fund is CORL (capitol outlay). Has been allowed to transfer to Maintenance and Operation budget. With cut to CORL, that will cut the M&O for a lot of school districts. Already hearing of districts doing a salary reduction across the district. AZ has one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios.

Rep. Williams interrupts Ms. Loredo to speak to the point of student-to-teacher ratio. Wants to know where's the data related to the student : teacher ratio.

Rep. Campbell says his data comes from ALEC.

7:21 p.m. We're on to SB1617, the K-12 budget reconciliation bill.

7:17 p.m. Committee still on a pizza break. Can nothing happen on time at the capitol?!?

6:59 p.m. SB1616 passes, 8-4. It's becoming clear there are number of agencies in the state, not just public education, as well as cash-strapped counties that are going to be devastated by this budget.

AEN team blogger commentary: I can't help but consider that many of the voices in today's appropriation hearing come from the very same people/agencies who made up the Yes on 100 coalition (Prop 100--the temporary 1-cent sales tax). It's sad to see so many who find themselves faced with a broken promise.

On to the K-12 budget, SB1617. Wait. Nope. Not yet. It's pizza time. Committee takes a 15-minute break to get grub.

So stretch your legs and catch the last ray of what has been a spectacular sunset.

6:27 p.m. SB1614 passes 9-3. On to SB1615, consolidation of state agencies. Passes committee 9-3. On to SB1616.

We're going to take a small bathroom break before we get to K-12 (SB1617)....

6:22 p.m. Jennifer Loredo with the Arizona Education Association speaking about SB 1614; "We're the one system that does the 50/50." In other words, teachers are the only public sector employees that participate in the 50/50 split. Ms. Loredo states to the committee that she's aware that when the majority party has caucused "behind close doors" there was a great deal of concerns about this policy change.

6:16 p.m. The rest of the bills are clipping right along; SB163 and now to SB1614. SB1614 will reduce pension contributions to public sector--state, university, school district and charter school employees--from a 50/50 contribution split to a 53/47 split. The reduction in contributions will be transferred to the state General Fund.

5:54 p.m After a great deal of explanation of votes, SB 1612 passes 9-3.

5:24 p.m. Ms. Johnson speaking before the committee re: the cuts impacting rural hospitals.

Just to catch you all up, we're still on the General Fund Appropriation Bill for FY 2011-2012 (SB 1612).

5:14 p.m. Conversation about $10 billion in tax loopholes/tax exemptions. Well, not so much conversations as debating/spinning and "twisting" of a report published by the Arizona Department of Revenue.

AEN blog team member's commentary: Close the loopholes, broaden the base, or attempt to meet somewhere in the middle. Do something! It's time we take a serious and realistic approach to addressing our state's fiscal stability. But to cut funding to vital programs that are proven to GROW our economic base is not a healthy approach. IF AZ is broke, if the state's checkbook is empty, how can we afford to hand over approx. $500M to corporations?


5:06 p.m. Rep. Vic Williams (LD 26) reads letter from Craig Barrett that speaks to reforming K-12, money to the classroom and various charter school successes. Not entirely clear if this letter was an op-ed or just a note to various legislative leaders. "Hear from the K-12 community this twisting of what our corporate leaders are saying. He's [Craig Barrett] looking for reform in our current system. Continuously hear this twisting of what our corporate leaders are saying and I wanted to speak to that."


5:00 p.m. Rep. Vic Williams (LD 26) breaks down the budget pie, while reminding committee he supported Prop 100. Rep. Williams suggests educational districts can look at their district budgets--all 228 can find some fiscal solutions.

Rep. Campbell offers support for Ms. Anderson. Several options out there to reform tax code that would make it fair and lower it for average citizens. GI and Morrison Institute have said there are some good choices. Rep. Campbell Reminds committee of $10 billion in lost revenue opportunities. "Some [exemptions] are good, but several exemptions don't need to be there."

Like say the exemption for 4-inch pipe in the amount of $17M a year?

4:56 p.m. Ms. Anderson with Interfaith community addressing the committee is urging committee to expand the tax base, instead of passing the budget.  Lower the rate and broaden the base, to include more services that will increase revenue but not increase rates. Sounds reasonable to us!

4:38 p.m. Mr. Barnes with Association of Arizona Community Colleges speaking about cuts to community colleges right now.

Rep. Alston makes comment re: businesses come to community colleges to ask them to design a course for my business, which train workforce for the jobs they are bringing to the state.

Rep. Kavanagh states cut to community colleges is "a 54% reduction to what the state gives to the community colleges. Not a 50% reduction of their funding."

Historical note: funding/providing public education to citizens was one of four MAJOR provisions to a territory joining the union of states.

John Goodwin, the first governor of the Arizona Territory, stated definitively that “self-government and universal education are inseparable. The one can be exercised only as the other is enjoyed.” As early as 1864 he called on the territory legislature to establish free public K-12 and university education, noting that “The first duty of the legislators of a free state is to make, as far as lies within their power, education as free to all its citizens as the air they breathe.”

Thus public schools were already well established in our state by December of 1910, when 52 delegates from across the Arizona territory came together to draft a state constitution.

And as Article XI, Section X in the AZ Constitution states:

"The revenue for the maintenance of the respective state educational institutions shall be derived from the investment of the proceeds of the sale, and from the rental of such lands as have been set aside by the enabling act approved June 20, 1910, or other legislative enactment of the United States, for the use and benefit of the respective state educational institutions. In addition to such income the legislature shall make such appropriations, to be met by taxation, as shall insure the proper maintenance of all state educational institutions, and shall make such special appropriations as shall provide for their development and improvement.”




4:19 p.m. Testimony re: cost shift to counties being given right now. Missed his name. Our apologies. Gentleman was told by his rep: State is the parent, counties children. If true, he says, then the budget is the equivalent of "Cutting kids allowance, demanding more chores and then demanding that they make your truck payments."

Feeling social? Check out and LIKE Support Adult Basic Education in Arizona on Facebook!

4:16 p.m. ASU student from a middle-class home, whose father works for Intel, gives testimony to committee re: cuts to higher education and the struggle families face to provide an education for their children.

4:00 p.m. Lost of last update due to gremlins. Testimony from David Martinez with the Arizona Students' Association re: the impact to the universities and community colleges. Rep. Kavanagh referenced report from Arizona Board of Regents, where it was shared that 45% of the university students do not pay tuition. Mr. Martinez notes that is an average of the student population who qualify and receive financial aid.

Rep. Alston notes that it is a loss to our state/community when being poor is an obstacle in a student being able to attend to college; references fmr. Intel CEO, Craig Barrett's comments from Tuesday.

3:51 p.m. State parks rep speaking about fund sweeps to state parks between $3-5M. "We are operating on a thread and the thread is about to break."

State parks bring in $266M, in addition to $23 million in state and local taxes.

3:47 p.m. If you were ever worried about the move of one Kyrsten Sinema from the House to the Senate Appropriations Committee, rest assured. Rep. Chad Campbell is on it.

3:38 p.m. Representative for Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition, Mr. Schmoltz (sorry for misspelling) is speaking about impact of cuts to families and vulnerable. Concern about the rush and "behind closed door" negotiations.

"Not open and transparent and accountable government....[W]e might not be able to change your minds, we just ask you to step back and slow down and run an open government...that allows for cooling off periods and vetting." Mr. Schmoltz

3:30 p.m. Official word in hearing is there will be a cut of $179M.
Please hold, while we get our thoughts together....

Watch here. Warning: Keep the Motrin handy....


3:20 p.m. House Approps underway. First word is leadership in the House and Senate and Governor Brewer have agreed to a K-12 fund reduction of approx. $200M. If correct, that's a $40M reduction from the Senate's proposed cut. However, it's approx. 

3:08 p.m. It looks like we have another 15 minute delay. We're hesitant to suggest this thing might not happen, as we've lived through one too many late night budget cram sessions. Some of us have yet to recover from the '09 Senate session that ran out the fiscal year clock.

2:09 p.m. Now word is Appropriations hearing has been moved to 3:00. If hearing gets started at all, there's no way members get home before midnight tonight.

Arizona Students' Association is reporting cuts to higher ed have been reduced from $235 million to $198 million. We're still searching for K-12 striker.

1:48 p.m. House is recessing. Appropriations will get underway shortly. Find a link to the strikers for SB 1612-1624 (the budget bills), here. The striker for K-12 (SB1617) is not up.

Gang, it looks like it's going to be a very, very long and "fluid" afternoon, as House Speaker Adams requests members to stay close to the Capitol for the remainder of the day.

Link below will take you to HHR 1.


1:37 p.m. Today's Arizona House Appropriations hearing was originally scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. It was later rescheduled for 1:45 p.m. this afternoon. However, with the House Floor Session just underway, it would appear as though the Appropriations hearing won't begin on time.

Link to live feed here.

Your AEN team will be live blogging today's activities/details on the budget deal/compromise. Again, your patience and forgiveness for various typos or grammatical errors is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Live Blogging the AZ Senate Appropriations Hearing!

Thank you for following our adventures in live blogging during today's committee hearing. We will be writing up summaries and updates as these bills continue through the legislative process.

It isn't too late to contact your senator and urge them to vote "NO" to this budget package.

If you are feeling social, check out "Can't Survive 235" on Facebook!

And a big "thank you" to Daisy, who sends encouragement from the fine state of Wisconsin.

Your AEN Live Blogging Team

4:15 p.m. The Senate Appropriations Committee has adjourned, passing the last of the thirteen budget bills, SB 1624.

Our apologies for the gap in posting. The only education related bill remaining on today's agenda was SB 1618; FY 2011-2012 Higher Education Budget Reconciliation. We missed committee discussion on this particular bill. However, we will post a link to today's entire committee hearing, once the video has been published on the Arizona legislative website.

The vote detail for SB 1618 is below:

Member Name  Vote  Member Name Vote             Member Name           Vote


Paula Aboud     N       Sylvia Allen        Y                Olivia Cajero Bedford N

Rich Crandall   Y        Lori Klein           Y                Al Melvin                    Y

Rick Murphy   NV      David Schapira   N               Don Shooter               Y

Kyrsten Sinema N    Steve Smith        Y                 Ron Gould                   Y

Andy Biggs       Y


AYES: 8 NAYS: 4 NOT VOTING: 1 EXCUSED: 0


1:35 p.m. SB 1615 passes. On to SB 1619.

1:27 p.m. SB 1615 bill is up now. Just so you don't have to scroll to the bottom of this long post, you can find the link to live feed here.

1:22 p.m. Discussion on SB 1614 and comment from public right now. Up next: SB 1615. Live blogging might hit the "pause" while kiddo is collected from school. :)

SB 1614 passes along party lines. On to SB 1615.

1:15 p.m. SB 1617 passes 9 - 4. On to SB 1614.

12:50 p.m. SB 1617 voting underway:

Sen. Aboud: Can make all the cuts we want, but if we don't have a trained work force, we won't be able to attract businesses to our state. We talk about wanting to create an economy, having jobs, and then we cut education. Votes no.

Sen. Allen votes aye.

Sen. Cajero Bedford votes no.

Sen. Klien votes aye.

Sen. Shooter votes aye.

Sen. Melvin votes aye.

Sen. Sinema votes no.

Sen. Crandall: Making comments on his vote re: to education reform. "We have ways to make education work with the budget we have. Difficult to initiate any kind of educational reform if we don't have people making an effort to learn more." Votes aye.

Sen. Murphy dittos Sen. Crandall's comments. "Education spending has tripled after being adjusted for inflation, and the results have been stagnant at best. The problem is we aren't innovating in our education system nearly enough. I'm glad that this bill is innovating in this state. This country wants the status quo and wants more money for the status quo. They care more about the money....The bottom line is I had a blended education, public and private. And if I hadn't been in those private schools, I wouldn't have been ready." And so on and so forth. Votes aye.

Sen. Schapira wonders what the end result, when have cut too much? When have we sacrificed the core mission of education before funding matter? How big do our class sizes have to get? "At the end of the day, all we're doing is increasing the disparity between 'the haves' and 'the have nots.'" Votes no.

Sen. Sinema thinks the verbal amendment with kindergarten issue is a good thing, but there are a number of things in the bill that cause her great concern. Votes no.

Sen. Gould votes aye.

Sen. Biggs votes aye.


12:47 p.m. SB 1617 being voted on, with both a Biggs amendment and a verbal amendment.

Note: Many organizations have signed in against this bill, however none of them are being read allowed, into the record. This may be a time saving issue, but for those watching, know that the education community put out an all-call last night to those who can sign in, to do so.


12:45 p.m. Sen. Gould acknowledges feeling gamed by Prop. 100, like many voters and those in the education community might. [Albeit for different ideological reasons. Of course.]


12:38 p.m. Jennifer Loredo with Arizona Education Association speaking against SB 1617. Reminded committee about the AEA's support of Prop. 100, the message that we all understood that if we passed Prop. 100 our schools would be spared cuts.

Larger class sizes, reduction in librarians, vital staff. Schools are trying to reduce the impact in the classroom as much as possible, but the reduction in staff is leading many districts to see a rise in class size.

Sen. Aboud asking Ms. Loredo about class size, number of desks available for desks. "We're hearing from teachers, 'We're literally at capacity in our classroom. So when we get another student, and we have nowhere for them to sit, then yes, they are sitting on the floor.'"


12:34 p.m. On to SB 1617 K-12 portion of the budget. Kindergarten portion, requiring all districts that offer full-day kindergarten to charge tuition will be amended on the floor, as it was poorly written and shouldn't have been included in the bill, per Sen. Crandall. That was as much explanation as was offered. We'll post once we learn further details.


12:28 p.m. After 24 minutes of explanation of votes, Senate Committee passes SB 1612, 9-4.
On to SB 1613.

SB 1613 passes 9-4 with no debate.


12:04 p.m. While updating the vote detail, we inserted the votes of some senators out of order. :)

Sen. Cajero Bedford: "With respect to transparency, the state Democrats have had less than 24 hours to go through this budget." Votes no.

Sen. Allen: Constituents are asking her to cut spending. Votes aye.

Sen. Crandall votes aye.

Sen. Klien votes aye.

Sen. Sinema votes no.

Sen. Smith says number of people signed in against SB 1612 is irrelevant, as there have been other bills that haven't turned out as much public input. Asks rhetorical question, "If we don't cut you, who?" paraphrasing, of course. Votes aye.

*Editor's note to Sen. Smith: Maybe the number of folks who have signed in is a testament to the outpouring of support for our state, our state's economic future? Just a thought.

Sen. Melvin: "New class warfare is the public sector vs. private sector.  Concerned about generational theft. This process is working itself out in WI, IN, OH, in other states throughout the country and we have an obligation to make sure we don't spend what we don't have." Votes aye.

Sen. Murphy votes aye.

Sen. Schapira: "To the point of generational theft, we are stealing education away from our children." Votes no.

Sen. Shooter votes aye, after assuring audience that he welcomes public input and participation in process.

Sen. Gould votes aye after an explanation of his vote.

Sen. Biggs votes aye.


12:01 p.m. Sen. Aboud: Public is speaking and they do not want this bill. Votes no.

11:57 a.m. Committee is about to vote on SB 1612. Some discussion re: Sen. Biggs' amendment.

11:52 a.m. The loophole discussion continues. Sen. Sinema points out liposuction isn't taxed. Sen. Gould doesn't want his constituents to pay taxes on their haircuts.

11:45 a.m. Sen. Aboud reminds Sen. Smith that state can get $17 million right now by closing loophole for the 4 inch pipe. Sen. Smith: "Close loopholes for corps, you grow the unemployment line."

11:33 a.m. Mark Barnes with AZ Community Colleges Council up now, discussing cuts to community colleges. Barnes: "I read a study a while ago, that 61% of jobs in AZ in 2018 will require some level of post secondary of education, we hope to be provider of choice." Reminder: In Senate majority proposal, Arizona community colleges would be cut $72 million.

11:26 a.m. Stacy Morely (spelling of last name may be incorrect) with Arizona Department of Education agency speaking now against SB 1612. Concerned cuts to agency, though less than $1 million cut, will impact agency's School Finance and IT programs.

11:25 a.m.  David Martinez concludes testimony and discussion with committee. Outstanding voice for our state's university students!

Sen. Allen: "Do you encourage them to adjust their budget without putting it on the back of students?"

11:11 a.m. While we're listening to the comments re: university cuts/impacts, we're reminded of this March 13, 2011 AZ Republic article about the tax break for University of Phoenix's parent company, Apollo, a for-profit university. AZ lawmakers are considering a bill that, according to the AZ Dept. of Revenue, would cost the state $33.2 million annually in tax revenue.

10:57 a.m. David Martinez with the Arizona Students' Association speaking to committee re: the impact of current budget reductions, creating a 63% increase in student tuition to state universities. This increase to tuition, says Martinez, pushes more students to take out loans with large interest rates in order to complete their education. Further, this increase in student loans is adding to the over all national debt when they simply find they cannot repay the loans. Martinez points out that there already has been $230 million cut from higher education funding. Should the budget proposal being considered be adopted, it would equate to a 50% cut in funding to our universities. His testimony continues, as he answers questions from Sen. Schapira (LD17)  and Sen. Sinema (LD15).

Per Martinez's testimony, current university cuts have already impacted state universities the following ways:

Over 2,000 faculty/staff positions eliminated

180 colleges programs have merged/consolidated

8 extended campuses have closed

63% raise in state university tuition

10:47 a.m. On the social media front: A new Facebook page "Can't Survive $235!" has been created by university faculty and staff to raise awareness of the devastating cuts to higher education.

10:27 a.m. Posting delayed, as most of public comments continue to focused on (and rightfully so) county concerns re: cost shift. Sen. Al Melvin (LD26) explaining the cost savings of filling jobs once held by county employees with inmates to help counties with maintenance duties, etc.

10:26 a.m. While waiting for comments re: county/prison cost shift, take a look at the LUMP SUM reductions to our state universities, as stated in SB 1612:

ASU total cut: $107 million

UA total cut: $92 million

NAU total cut: $36 million

Arizona community colleges total cut: $72 million 

10:00 a.m. Off the education topic, but in way of explaining long pause in update: Comments are being heard on burden shift to counties. Specific concerns are being expressed regarding prisoners. "We're returning a prison population to the counties that we took when you [counties] were broke. We're broke. So we're returning them to you....We're going back to the way things were." Sen. Shooter

9:50 a.m. Public allowed to speak on bill. Given 3 minutes to speak. So far, public comments have urged the committee to avoid devastating cuts to our state's most vulnerable. A great deal of support for public education in the room today.

9:45 a.m. SB 1612 Senate Fact Sheet here. Friend to AEN submitted the following explanation on the difference between SB 1612 the General Appropriations FY 2011-2012 bill, and the rest of the bills listed below.

"[G]eneral appropriations" is for the actual numbers of appropriations, the rest are for 'budget reconciliation bills.' [or BRBs] Since the lege is forbidden by the AZ constitution from passing substantive changes to law in an appropriations bill, the annual budget is actually a package of bills.
One bill, the general appropriations bill, is the numbers bills, while the BRBs are for changes to law to make the budget work

The remaining bills are the BRBs, the bills that make the budget work."

We're grateful for our smart, wonky friends. :)

9:44 a.m. Senate Appropriations underway. Order of bills SB 1612, 1613, 1617, 1614, 1615, 1619, 1616, 1618, 1620, 1621, 1622, 1623, and 1624.

9:32 a.m. Hearing appears to getting a late start. Senators arriving. Feed is live here.

9:15 a.m. Good morning, folks!

Your AEN team will be live blogging the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that is scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m.  Please have patience with us, as there may be typos, misspellings, and dangling participles.

Feel free to watch along with us by clicking here.

You can find the agenda here.

And to get caught up on the latest news about the thirteen budget bills proposed by the Senate majority party, visit our post by clicking here.

If you'd like to contact your legislator and express your concerns about the cuts to education, click here.

AZ Senate Budget Takes Express Train; Education Targeted for Additional Cuts

On Tuesday, March 15, 2011, the Arizona Senate voted to suspend rules for the consideration of the Senate’s budget package. Thirteen bills relating to FY 2011-2012 were posted shortly after 5 p.m. (MST) for a brief public review before being assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee agenda for Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 109.


The Senate’s budget proposal is in stark contrast to Governor Brewer’s. While the Governor proposes $842 million in cuts, the Senate’s budget contains over $1.3 billion in cuts across state agencies in fiscal year 2011-2012. The Arizona Republic reports Tuesday evening, “[t]he Senate Republicans’ plan has approximately $400 million of cuts beyond those proposed by Brewer. They include, [$]172 million from K-12 schools, $65 million from universities and $67 million from health programs and social services.”

This means that K-12 education would have a total cut of $262 million in fiscal year 2011-2012. If the Senate budget is adopted, total cuts to Arizona K-12 education funding, community colleges and universities in the last three years would amount to $1.445 billion.

Senate’s State FY 2011-2012 K-12 and Higher Education Budget Bills:

SB 1617 K-12 Education; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation
SB 1618 Higher Education; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

AEN has signed in “Opposed” to SB 1617 and SB 1618.

Why?

We are concerned that the suspension of rules prohibits a proper public review, and calls into question the transparency of the process. Additionally, without information from the Joint Legislative Budget Council relating to the fiscal impact–good or bad–of any bills within in the budget, it is difficult to determine whether or not this budget is fiscally sound and in the long term best interest of Arizona and our overall economic recovery.

Senate’s State FY 2011-2012 Budget Bills:

SB 1612 General Appropriations 2011-2012

SB 1613 2011-2012 Capital Outlay

SB 1614 2011-2012 State Budget Procedures

SB 1615 Consolidation; State Agencies

SB 1616 Revenue; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1619 Health; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1620 Welfare; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1621 Criminal Justice; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1622 General Government; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1623 Regulation; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1624 Environment; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation


Related Articles

Governor’s Budget Proposals on Fast Track?, AEN, February 21, 2011

Brewer scales back plan to cut Medicaid, Arizona Republic, March 15, 2011

Education “Protected”? FY 2008-2010 Cuts Itemized, AEN, January 28, 2011

Brewer Discusses $500 Million Tax Cut Deal on Sunday Square Off

Governor Jan Brewer appeared on Phoenix Channel 12's "Sunday Square Off" to discuss the tax cuts for businesses she signed into law last week.

Governor Brewer called the legislature into special session to vote on and pass a $500 million tax cut package. It isn't clear how soon, if ever, businesses and jobs will return to Arizona as a result, nor how education and vital state programs will be sustained after punching such a substantial hole into the state's already depleted revenue collections.

When asked by commentator Brahm Resnik if it was fair for businesses to get this large tax cut package when universities and patients on AHCCCS are left to face further cuts in funding, Governor Brewer replied, "Absolutely. Absolutely."

Why?

According to Governor Brewer, "It's the business that drives the economy." Not education. Not patients.

Watch below: