CEBV Weekly: April 17, 2023
Spring break for lawmakers. Years of budgetary rainy days to come. Our upcoming moral document.
What a week, huh? We could write an entire newsletter about any one piece of news from the past 7 days. Instead, let’s recap:
The House expelled Liz Harris (R-13) — not because she’s a conspiracy theorist and serial liar (many state lawmakers are), but because she refused to be a "team player," because her wild accusations embarrassed Republican leadership by accusing them of taking bribes from Mexican drug cartels, and because she put her purple-district seat (and thus partisan control of the House) at risk.
Both the House and Senate recessed until Tuesday, April 25, to give time for the process for replacing Harris to play out. The LD’s Precinct Committee members will recommend three replacements to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which will name one of those three to serve the rest of Harris’s term. We’re not surprised. It’s easier to go on vacation than pretend to be bipartisan because you don’t have a majority. 🙃
Raquel Terán (D-26) resigned from the state Senate to run for Congress, leaving another vacant seat which will be filled using the same process.
The Finance Advisory Committee, an advisory panel of economists, presented the dire but expected news that Arizona has no money: this year’s one-time surplus will be completely gone next year, and once the 2021 tax cuts are factored in, “net growth is negative.”
Rumblings of a bipartisan budget have begun. Gov. Hobbs has been meeting regularly with House Speaker Toma and Senate President Petersen to negotiate. Hobbs told press she's "optimistic" on real progress and described meetings as moving “close" to agreement. Toma is echoing that optimism. And Petersen assures us everyone is working in good faith. (It’s easier to agree on how to spend money when there isn’t any! 🙃)
What happens between now and April 25 is critical. We don’t mean the roughly 110 bills we’re still tracking, which will remain alive until session ends. A lot of those are culture-war nonsense; we’re not worried, as Gov. Hobbs is ready with her veto stamp. But a handful, including the 10 ballot referrals still lurking in the fog of secrecy that surrounds budget negotiations, could become leverage in a grubby backroom budget deal. That’s the real issue: our budget, and by extension, our future.
To put it bluntly, Arizona is in a pickle. Our $1.8 billion projected one-time revenue surplus is about to evaporate into nothing. The massive, permanent tax cuts Republican lawmakers passed in 2021 are compounding the crisis to the tune of another $2 billion per year in lost revenues. The spiraling costs from Republican lawmakers’ beloved universal ESA voucher program are now approaching a half-billion dollars per year, much of that unbudgeted, with no end in sight. And this is the party of fiscal responsibility?
It's often been said that when you’re in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging. Our lawmakers must stop cutting taxes, hit pause on the wildly irresponsible ESA voucher program, and find some new sources of revenue. To fail is to accept Arizona’s future as another Mississippi, dirt poor and forever mired at the bottom.
⏰ If you have 15 minutes: Contact your senator and representatives with your budget asks: stop cutting taxes, hit pause on the wildly irresponsible ESA voucher program, and find some new sources of revenue.
⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Also contact the governor’s office and House and Senate leaders.
Gov. Katie Hobbs: 📫 engage@az.gov • ☎️ 602-542-4331 • 👍🏻 Facebook • 🐦 Twitter
Senate Majority Leader Warren Petersen (R-14): 📫 wpetersen@azleg.gov • ☎️ 602-926-4136 • 👍🏻 Facebook • 🐦 Twitter
Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein (D-12): 📫 mepstein@azleg.gov • ☎️ 602-926-4870 • 👍🏻 Facebook • 🐦 Twitter
House Majority Leader Ben Toma (R-27): 📫 btoma@azleg.gov • ☎️ 602-926-3298 • 👍🏻 Facebook • 🐦 Twitter
House Minority Leader Andrés Cano (D-20): 📫 acano@azleg.gov • ☎️ 602-926-3027 • 👍🏻 Facebook • 🐦 Twitter
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 45 minutes: Also write a Letter to the Editor about the state budget. Visit our LTE Hub for templates, messaging advice, submission links and more:
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom at 4pm on Sunday for our next CEBV Happy Hour. This week is a spectacular don’t-miss: we’re thrilled to feature Nebraska state senator and “happy warrior” Megan Hunt.
📆 Look ahead: Mark your calendars for this Budget Town Hall, on May 6 at 3 PM. It reminds us fondly of the 2017 town hall tour where many of us got our start. Hope to see you there!
2023 Session Timeline
Legislative majority leadership can change bill deadlines at any point. The budget deadline, however, is set in stone because it is tied to the state’s fiscal year.
Saturday, 4/22 100th Day of Session (the end goal; will definitely be changed) Friday, 6/30 Last day to pass a budget before the government shuts down
Use Request to Speak. Our elected officials need to know what we think!
Use our website. Civic Engagement Beyond Voting’s website features tons of resources, including a RTS training video that’s 5 minutes well spent.
Attend our Happy Hours. This week’s Zoom RTS Happy Hour is a spectacular don’t-miss: we’re featuring Nebraska state senator and “happy warrior” Megan Hunt. As always, we’ll also have legislative info and Q&A with Melinda. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of session; sign up in advance here.
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