Senate plans to start budget talks around Labor Day
By Julia Shumway | Arizona Capitol Times
Republicans in the state Senate — and possibly the House — plan to start drafting next year’s budget shortly after Labor Day and have a proposal ready by the end of the year, Senate President Karen Fann told the Arizona Capitol TimesWednesday.
It’s a departure from recent history, in which the governor has presented his budget proposal during the State of the State address in January and legislators take weeks or months to come up with their own spending plan, building on the governor’s pitch and committee hearings. Fann, R-Prescott, said she’s had several senators ask to return to an older approach in which lawmakers come up with their own budget proposal at the same time as the governor.
“We are going to call a caucus meeting together with our Republican caucus Senate members and we are going to start working on our budget this fall,” Fann said. “We hope to have something pretty well put together by beginning of session that we will be able to present to the governor.”
Fann said she believed the House Republican Caucus would do the same. House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Rep. Regina Cobb, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, were both unavailable for comment.
