Related articles:

Arizona's budget hole gets deeper yet State lawmakers unveil budget cut options

Other articles by Howard Fischer:

2 bishops urge OK of ballot ban on gay marriages Lawsuit could void photo-radar tickets Judge to keep hands off election-fund law, for nowBiz finances survived AZ smoking ban Phx. TV station wants to ease cameras' access to courtrooms Judge scraps part of Ariz. public-election law Affirmative-action foes give up on 2008 ballot Taxes collected in Arizona continue to shrink Attorney seeks end to public matching funds Judge stalls ballot mailing over Prop. 104

Construction
Green Valley Heating & Cooling
HVAC Service Tech Trades/Construction
Best Paving
Asphalt Finish Roller Operators Trades/Construction
SCHMUESER & ASSOCIATES
PRECSION MILLWRIGHTS Sales and Marketing
Town and Country Foods
Sales Manager Trades/Construction
PARKWAY CONSTRUCTION
SUPERINTENDENTS Administrative & Professional
ILX RESORTS
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT General
Maintenance Technician

PHOENIX — State lawmakers could save more than $1 billion this fiscal year if they would just cut funding for universities, kick some children out of the Kids Care health insurance program, cut aid to public schools and take money earmarked for road construction and instead use it to pay the salaries of Department of Public Safety officers.

These options and more were unveiled late Friday by the staff of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. They come in response to financial projections that the current state budget is running at least $600 million in the red, if not more, as tax collections have lagged far behind the projections made when lawmakers adopted the $10.6 billion spending plan earlier this year.

Legislative leaders sought the list to find ways to meet their constitutional mandate to bring the budget into balance by the end of the fiscal year June 30.

And the committee's staff director, Richard Stavneak, said those ideas may be just the beginning: He told lawmakers that revenues for the following fiscal year already are predicted to run up to $750 million less than anticipated expenses.

But much of what is on that 256-page list may be dead even as the ink was drying:

Senate President Tim Bee, a Republican, said "many, if not most, are not politically realistic." Instead, he said the list represents a list of what is legally possible — meaning the funding is not constitutionally protected or the cash is not already legally encumbered.

"They're certainly not recommendations coming from anyone in my (Senate Republican) caucus or the Democratic caucus," Bee continued. "It's staff that assembled this for us to look at."

For example, he said, one likely political non-starter is a proposal to reduce eligibility for Kids Care. This program provides virtually free health care for children whose parents earn more than the federal poverty level — the point below which the whole family qualifies for free care — and double that amount. That latter figure now is $41,300 for a family of four.

Stavneak said cutting eligibility to 175 percent of the federal poverty level — $36,137 for a family of four — would reduce current enrollment of 62,088 youngsters by 18,626.

The plan also suggests eliminating $30 million that lawmakers provided to the state's three universities to help them retain students.

Another proposal suggests taking back $23 million extra that lawmakers gave for K-12 public education above what they are statutorily required to provide.

The list of options does include something Gov. Janet Napolitano and most Democrats would find acceptable: Borrow money for school construction rather than pay more than $300 million in cash. But GOP leaders have said borrowing — and having to repay over time with interest — is unacceptable.