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PHOENIX — In what is expected to be her final State of the State address, Gov. Janet Napolitano highlighted six years of personal accomplishments Monday and sprinkled her speech with a few new proposals.

She also touched on the state's $1.5 billion budget shortfall but urged lawmakers to approve her "balanced budget" proposal and not "dim the bright future of this remarkable state."

But Republicans basically said they would ignore much of the speech because Napolitano is likely to resign this month if she's confirmed as U.S. secretary of homeland security.

Napolitano recommended that the Legislature, which is Republican-controlled, adopt the budget proposal she will send this month, before she resigns.

Her previous budgets have relied on borrowing to weather the bad economy, while Republicans generally favored deeper cuts.

On Monday, she recommended taking one item off the table when it comes to cuts: public education, though much of that funding is legally protected anyway.

"Budget deficits mean cuts, and cuts are hard," Napolitano said. "As we tighten our belt, we must remember that this part of our call to serve means still caring for those less fortunate, and protecting services like education, foreclosure assistance, health care and shelter from abuse, neglect and domestic violence."

● Republican response: Republicans vowed to tackle the budget starting today. Republican leaders seem more willing than Napolitano to make hard cuts to the budget.

"If we completely run out of funds and we shut down major agencies because there is no money . . . that is certainly a more dangerous situation to be in than to reduce and get our budget under control," Senate President Bob Burns said.

Napolitano suggested making it easier for citizens to get a measure on the ballot and harder for state lawmakers to do so.

That would include lowering the signature requirement for a citizens initiative — currently, more than 150,000 to change state law and 230,000 to amend the Arizona Constitution. She also told lawmakers to "crack down on signature fraud by increasing the number of signatures to be examined, banning payment by signature and registering paid circulators."

And she suggested changing the current rules that allow sponsors to name their causes — sometimes with misleading titles.

Napolitano also suggested changes in the process that allows lawmakers to send measures to the ballot themselves, recommending a two-thirds vote rather than a simple majority.

That would have prevented numerous measures, including last year's successful effort to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, from going before voters. And the Legislature also used that power to essentially allow voters to override Napolitano on immigration matters, such as denying state benefits to illegal immigrants through the passage of Proposition 200 in 2004.

● Republican response: There is bipartisan support for changes in the initiative process. But House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, called Napolitano's idea of making it harder for lawmakers to send items to the ballot a "throwaway line."

"When you look at the initiative and referendum process, there are a lot of things that we have to do," he said. "Whatever we do has to be part of a comprehensive package."

Napolitano said the state universities "have already experienced budget cuts, and we need to avoid deeper cuts that impair their educational and economic missions."

She proposed extending in-state tuition to every veteran in Arizona.

And she urged lawmakers to put in action a plan approved last year to provide construction money to the three universities — which has been held up by Republican lawmakers because of the state's budget shortfall.

"It is a good plan, we can afford it, and we should put it into action," she told lawmakers.

● Republican response: Universities could take more budget cuts, because their funding isn't legally mandated or voter-mandated. No part of government is safe from cuts, Burns said.

The veteran issue would likely affect few Arizonans, since someone living in Arizona already receives in-state tuition.

With a statewide transportation plan Napolitano championed last year failing to reach the ballot, the governor recommended to lawmakers that they resurrect her plan.

The TIME initiative — short for Transportation and Infrastructure Moving Arizona's Economy — is too much for some candidates to swallow. It was projected to raise $42 billion over 30 years by increasing the state sales tax from 5.6 cents on every dollar spent to 6.6 cents.

"That citizens initiative proposal made sense — and it still makes sense," Napolitano said, "both for our present, because we will need jobs, and for the future, because we will need roads, highways, rail and transit to support our growth."

● Republican response: Transportation issues might be up for serious discussions after the budget has been balanced, but Napolitano's plan had little legislative support in 2008.

Many Republicans had raised their eyebrows last year at Napolitano's transportation idea, partly because of its allocation for mass transit. And there are now even more Republicans in the Legislature.

Some Democrats, too, were critical of raising the state sales tax during a recession.

As she prepares for her likely departure to the national stage, Napolitano called leaving "very difficult."

"It is an honor to be asked to serve in this way," she said of her appointment by President-elect Barack Obama, "but it is also bittersweet. I want to thank Arizonans for giving me their confidence and allowing me the privilege to lead our state these past six years."

She added, "I trust that when I return home, I will find an Arizona that continued to build its long-term future — an Arizona that has realized even more of what it can be."

● Republican response: Legislative leaders seemed to brush off Napolitano's speech.

Adams called it "irrelevant to the upcoming session."

And Burns, too, indicated that with Napolitano's days numbered, he'd be ignoring her pleas.

"It think it was a nice farewell speech, and I think it's probably counterproductive for us to get into criticizing that speech at this point," he said. "We need to more forward, and we're going to be working with the next governor, Jan Brewer."