Hourly Update

Napolitano's 'State of the State': more money for border enforcement, teacher pay

PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano wants $100 million to help deal with illegal border crossers, expanded use of the Arizona National Guard and sanctions against firms that hire people not here legally. Napolitano, in her fourth annual address to the Legislature today, also sought:

• A minimum $30,000 starting salary for all teachers, with pay raises for all.
• $100 million in "targeted'' tax relief, including lower fees on more fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Electronic monitoring of sex offenders and eliminating the statute of limitations on sex crimes.

In her proposals on border security, Napolitano said some of the money she wants would go to add officers to the state Department of Public Safety and help fund local law enforcement in border communities. She also wants more done to intercept vehicles which are stolen from the United States, vehicles she said are "used to return to this country carrying loads of illegal immigrants.'' And Napolitano, while noting promises by the federal government to add more Border Patrol agents, said she has asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to use a provision of law which allows the federal government to pay the state to station the National Guard along the border. "That financial support would allow the Guard to expand its presence and become even more involved in enforcing the rule of law at the border,'' she said. The proposal for the $30,000 starting salary for teachers actually is $5,000 short of what was recommended last month by a special task force appointed by Napolitano. Northern Arizona University President John Haeger, who chairs that committee, said the current statewide average is $28,000 or less. But the governor promised in her speech "that's just a start.'' And she also asked lawmakers to "appropriate the dollars necessary to ensure that every teacher also receives a raise.'' The governor's tax relief proposals are nowhere near as broad as those being pushed by some Republican legislators. They want cuts in individual and corporate income taxes as well as business property taxes. Instead, Napolitano wants to give a tax credit to small businesses — from two to 25 workers — who provide health insurance for their workers. The state also would help subsidize the employee premiums for low-income workers. She also wants to revamp the state's vehicle license tax. Now fees are based on the value of the car or truck, which makes expensive vehicles more costly than cheaper ones, and newer ones more expensive than older ones.Napolitano is proposing that the system be altered to give fee reductions for the most fuel-efficient vehicles. And she wants a three-day "back-to-school'' sales tax holiday, where there would be no levy on clothes, school supplies and up to $1,000 in computer equipment.