100 Days, 100 Nights & Only a Skinny Budget in Sight
Today is the 100th day of the Legislative session, which is the target end of session by rule. Which means that all the official deadlines for bills have passed. Which means the structure that keeps the Legislature moving has also been removed. Which means we wait. Session can (and will) be periodically extended by a majority vote of each chamber in order to pass a budget. Bills will continue to move as agreed upon by House and Senate leadership, but it will be sporadic as the amount of work available to keep members busy every day is diminished.
Budget talks appear to remain stalled over the issue of accelerating last year’s income tax cut vs. increasing spending using part of the state’s $5.2 billion surplus. Also tied up in that discussion is the impact of tax changes on Prop. 307, which successfully referred last year’s tax rate changes to the ballot in November, and the fate of any ESA/voucher expansion proposal.
Even so, House Republicans are pushing forward with a hearing tomorrow at 10:30 on the so-called “skinny budget,” a level-funding plan that includes only formula growth and statutorily mandated expenditures. As late as this afternoon, Gov. Ducey’s office was quoted as saying he did not support a budget that did not include his priorities.
You can follow this story from AZ Ed News for budget developments as they unfold.
Today’s Action
HB 2177 charter schools; fingerprinting; renewal; revocation (Udall)—passed the Senate on 3rd read. It now returns to the House for concur/refuse.
HB 2179 schools; accounting responsibility plans; counties (Udall)—passed the Senate on 3rd read. It now heads to the governor’s desk.
SB 1630 school buses; student transportation; vehicles (Kerr)—passed House Committee of the Whole. The bill was amended to add class A, B, C, and D school buses that carry 15 or fewer passengers to the list of vehicles qualifying for “substantially different” regulation by DPS.