AZ Gov. resumes budget talks; illegal immigration avoided

AP-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer issued a press release on Monday, July 27th indicating that she intends to leave the calendar for the week of July 27th through August 2nd, “open for budget meetings with the Arizona legislature.”

The state is facing a significant financial crisis that has resulted in a 2 billion dollar shortfall after the Governor rejected a balanced budget passed by lawmakers that she said, “cut too deeply from critical state services such as K-12 education and health care for the poor.” The Governor called a special session that began on July 6th, but it has proven unproductive since many lawmakers were attending conferences and events hosted by lobbyists back east, away from the hot weather and hotter budget issue.

Currently, the Governor has provided the legislature with a blueprint for closing the revenue gap that includes an odd assortment of tax increases and other unusual measures. Among the proposals is the sale and lease back of government owned buildings and prisons, as well as borrowing against future lottery income. Critics contend that this is a short sighted approach to the budget, since the leases on the buildings will become an expense, and vital future lottery revenue will be unavailable, committed instead to this year’s budget.

Particularly troubling are the proposed tax increases during what is arguably the worst recession the state has ever faced. The Governor’s tax plan includes a one cent increase in the sales tax, which translates into a $438 a year cost to the average family. Allowing the state equalization tax rollback to expire will place an additional $58 per year property tax burden on an owner of a $270,000 home. These increases are in addition to the reduction in services such as the 220 million cut to the K-12 education system and the 40 million cut to the state University system.

Interestingly, there is no mention of curtailing the cost of illegal immigration in any state budget plan. A 2004 study places the cost of educating the children of Arizona illegal aliens at 820 million annually. The uncompensated medical expenses are estimated to be 400 million, and the cost to incarcerate illegal alien prisoners is 80 million annually. Even accounting for a positive economic impact of 257 million, the price tag for Arizonans to subsidize the illegal population is almost 1 billion every year.

The illegal immigration problem accounts for nearly half of the entire budget deficit. The savings would be enough to completely eliminate the need for a sales tax increase, or in the alternative, restore all of the operating budget reductions for 2010.

These are not theoretical numbers. Next year, Arizonans will have less for themselves and their families, and the quality of their children’s education will be degraded. Services for the states poor will also be lessened in order to support the illegal alien community.

One can only hope that lawmakers use of tax dollars mirrors their constituents’ priorities, and that Arizona families approve of paying more in taxes and receiving less in services for the benefit of illegal aliens.