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2010: Arizona, the Legislature, and the $3.2 Billion Deficit

     Approximately eighty attended the Democrats of the Red Rocks January 30, 2010 annual membership meeting in West Sedona which featured guest speaker, three-term Arizona Democratic state legislator, Kyrsten Sinema.  In 2006, Sinema chaired Arizona Together; the statewide campaign to recognize same-sex marriage and civil unions in Arizona, served on President Obama’s Commission on Healthcare and in 2009 authored Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win and Last chronicling her transformation from ineffective Arizona legislator to successful coalition builder.   

     Phoenix legislator Sinema’s talk “Opportunities and Challenges in 2010: Arizona, the Legislature, and the $3 Billion Hole” was prefaced with criticism of the recent Sedona City Council’s 4-2 vote to reject U.S. Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s National Scenic Area proposal and lauded the Big Park Regional Coordinating Council (Village of Oak Creek) vote of support.  The National Scenic Area (NSA) proposal receives broad bi-partisan support among Arizona elected officials.

      Sinema detailed the state legislature Democrats response (http://www.strongerarizona.com/) to Republican Governor Jan Brewer’s $8.6 billion State Budget proposal with its projected $3.2 Billion deficit, acknowledging bi-partisan support for the Governor’s proposed one-cent sales tax increase.  As the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Sinema expressed frustration with Republicans non-support of the Democrats proposal to increase state revenue by closing $10 billion in AZ corporate tax loopholes (Sinema estimated $300 million in uncollected Internet sales taxes). 

     The Democrats oppose the Governor’s proposals to cut $750 million K-12 public education funding; eliminating the federally subsidized $22 million Kids Care program, and state mental health care programs. The Governor’s proposal to close the AZ Juvenile Correction Department ($70 million) and remand its 472 incarcerated teens back to home counties without state funding is met with Democratic opposition.  The closing of thirteen of twenty-two Arizona State Parks (http://www.azstateparks.com/) including Red Rock State Park (June 3), Camp Verde’s Fort Verde Historical Park (March 29), and Flagstaff’s Riordan Mansion State Historical Park (February 22) is viewed by the Democrats as lost state revenue.

     In response to a question, Sinema acknowledged that the State Pension Retiree Fund is solvent and that the much-maligned Photo Radar program provided $32 million for state coffers last year.  She further disclosed that the Unemployment Insurance Fund is insolvent and borrows money from the Federal government to meet its obligations while the number one corporation with Arizonans on ACCESS remains Wal-Mart.

*To learn more about the positions of Democrats in the State legislature, contact legislators and visit AZHouseDemocrats on Facebook.

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