Update 5: Brewer signs parts of budget: brings back equalization property tax…
Update 5: 9/4/09 4:41pm AZ Time: Well with 1 day to go, Jan Brewer has signed off on parts of the budget and not others, we lost a great chance at tax cuts, Brewer is polling lower than “anyone else” literally, so her numbers cannot get much worse, but this really sucks:
If the election were held today, when given the option of Jan Brewer, or anyone else on the face of the earth as Arizona’s next Governor, voters opted for the latter, according to a poll released Monday.
The local political consulting group that conducted the poll, The Summit Group, found that only 18 percent of Arizona voters would cast their vote for the execrated chief executive, in contrast to 46 percent, who say they would vote for just about anyone else…
She allowed the comeback of the property tax, great for residents and commercial interests right now eh? and she vetoed spending cuts again. She did not get her sales tax ballot referral but she seems to be ‘bitterly clinging’ to the idea:
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer OK’d portions of state budget bills Friday, but she nixed a permanent repeal of a $250 million property tax on businesses and residents. Brewer’s move upset business and real estate advocates who want the state equalization rate gone. The property tax was temporarily repealed in 2005, but will come back without action.
The Legislature has blocked the sales tax increase vote, and Brewer could call another special session to try again on that front. The state budget should have been done July 1. The governor also nixed some education cuts in the budget bill she signed off on Friday.
…“The whole concept of taxing our way into prosperity, as Winston Churchill once said, is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. Let’s face it, everyone knows that increased spending and taxes are the worst possible option in this economy,” said Lawless, whose group has been a major proponent of getting rid of the equalization tax…
Stimulus Unemployment 13 week Extension Update…
Ahh FINALLY, some clarity on WTH is going on with the 13 week unemployment benefits extension in the states.
Dissecting this piece in the AZ Republic we get to the bottom of how states have to qualify:
Arizona has an opportunity to take advantage of an additional 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits that could help more than 33,000 residents this year, but lawmakers have been hesitant to accept the funds. Getting the federal stimulus money requires action by the Legislature by the end of its session this spring…
A change in state law on what would trigger the extended benefits is needed to take the money. Arizona officials were confused over contradictory information they had received about whether they could change the law back to keep the state from having to pay the extended benefits once the federal dollars run out.
Although the state and federal government usually split the cost of extended benefits, federal stimulus dollars would pay 100 percent in this case...
So WTH is the delay? Well the state legislators are afraid of hidden strings and who can blame them with Congress Critters running wild changing roolz midgame left and right, Congress is creating this problem just as it is with TALF everyone is afraid to participate.
We have no less than 7 members of the Congressional Black Caucus trying to normalize relations with Cuba while Rev Al and vote fraud riddled ACORN demand OUR ELECTED Sheriff resign ..it is insane…now it is affecting our UE extensions =nationwide= because no one trusts these maroons in D.C….
In addition to having concerns over any long-term consequences, many Arizona lawmakers are leery of requirements from Washington. Federal officials said Arizona can reverse the law. The state can add a “sunset clause” into the legislation that “ends the benefits when 100 percent of federal funding ends,” said Peggy Abrahamson, a Labor Department spokeswoman…
…Arizona lawmakers are still studying the details of the sunset provision. “If we can sunset it when the federal money goes away, fine,” said House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills….
Here is the guts of the extension provision:
The change in state law necessary to receive the funds would include wording that would trigger 13 weeks of extended benefits whenever the unemployment rate exceeds 6.5 percent over a three-month period.
Current AZ benefits:
Arizonans are currently eligible to receive up to 59 weeks of unemployment benefits. The average length of time collecting benefits is between 16 and 17 weeks, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security….Jobless benefits in the state, including a recent $25 addition by the federal government, total a maximum of $265 a week…
Additional UE EXPANSION to P/T workers and some voluntary terminations are still being debated in AZ, but I cannot see it passing here, one of our state legislators already announced we ‘would not follow the nation into socialism’ and told constituents to move out if they think they need more funds and social services after June 2009:
…In a separate matter, House Democrats on Monday called for Brewer to accept $132 million from the federal government for Arizona to modernize its unemployment insurance system…Changes could include providing unemployment benefits to part-time workers or those in job-training programs and allowing unemployment-insurance eligibility to be extended…
Moderate in the Middle 