Related articles:

After election, lawmakers must tackle budget

Other articles by Howard Fischer:

Failed legislative bill leaves public-financed campaigns in doubtBurns: Brewer bungling her job House approves boost in funding for those seeking office next year 3 recommended to Brewer to fill seat on high court AZ can enact own greenhouse gas regsRecession reins in sprawl Pet bills aplenty pouring forth from Legislature Brewer wants budget right away, but not those other, lesser bills Flat-tax plan could hit walletsRepeal of ban on sparklers nears final OK

Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor

PHOENIX — The top budget officials in the House and the Senate said a special legislative session is needed quickly to dig Arizona out of a deepening financial hole.

Sen. Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said figures for the first two months of the fiscal year that began July 1 show revenues running about $180 million below projections. Burns, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that at this rate the state could end up $1 billion short of what's needed to cover the $9.9 billion spending plan.

Without spending cuts, Burns said, the state could find itself facing the possibility of tax hikes.

Gov. Janet Napolitano, anticipating Tuesday's press conference, put out her own press release touting the results of a hiring freeze she imposed last February. The result, she said, is a 2.8 percent reduction in the number of people working for the state.

And an aide to the governor said Napolitano does not believe the problem is as severe as the legislators claim. Spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer put the gap between actual and anticipated revenues for the first two months at about $100 million.

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, Burns' House counterpart, was unimpressed.

"A hiring freeze isn't going to solve the problem," he said. Pearce said it's going to require an actual cut in spending on programs, something that requires legislative action.

L'Ecuyer said more is being done.

For example, she said budget staffers are meeting with the heads of all state agencies to "look at what they're doing." L'Ecuyer said the governor is looking for places where agencies can "hold back" spending.

"There's an awful lot of that going on," she said, though she provided no details. "We're going to be in a position to talk about a lot more of this next week."

L'Ecuyer acknowledged that actual cuts in programs, which Burns and Pearce say are necessary, would require legislative action.

She said Napolitano is "not opposed" to a special session. But at this point the questions surround how soon and who is responsible for coming up with that plan.

Burns said the $9.9 billion budget that now is running in the red was crafted largely by the Democratic governor, with most Republicans in opposition.

"The ball's in her court," he said. "She needs to make that first step to offer up what would be the plan to fix the problem."

L'Ecuyer said there's no reason the leadership of the Republican-controlled Legislature can't come up with a plan.

Burns said staffers are exploring options. But he said it is the governor, as the state's chief executive, who controls the process.

"If the governor's not in favor of what is the final solution, it isn't going to go anywhere because she has to call the (special) session, she has to sign whatever legislation might come out."

L'Ecuyer countered that Napolitano offered a plan last January to solve last year's budget deficit, but GOP leaders were unwilling to deal with that until April.

"So these guys have a dreadful track record in terms of coming to the table ready to talk," she said. Instead, L'Ecuyer said, Republicans are more interested in "drive-by news conferences."

Burns said the problem is complicated by the fact that there are few financial maneuvers left for lawmakers to use to balance the budget absent cutting spending or raising taxes. He said the "rainy day fund" already has been drained and the state already is borrowing money to balance the books this year.