NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday December 21, 2009
'Emergency meeting' follows Brewer's pattern: Late to act, little to show
Gov. Brewer waited until halfway through this fiscal year to call Monday’s scripted “emergency meeting” of policy advisers to address the budget crisis – a crisis well under way a full year ago. This meeting should have been called long ago and certainly in advance of the most recent special session of the Legislature. Brewer touts a constant state of urgency yet fails to deliver meaningful action.
“Too little, too late” has been her pattern since becoming governor. For example:•Late on budget: Brewer didn’t deliver her 2009-10 budget until June 1, much later than governors usually submit budgets. This meant that, for the first time in Arizona history, the state had an unbalanced budget at the start of the fiscal year. (see: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/115721.php). This lateness exacerbated the need for cuts to education and critical services for vulnerable citizens. More recently, the lack of budget solutions has jeopardized the entire State Parks system, an enduring part of Arizona’s heritage and a crucial economic stream for rural residents.
•Late to negotiate: She did not allow Democrats to join budget negotiations for most of the year, and she spent the entire summer in a deadlock with her own party’s leadership in the Legislature. “She’s given us nothing,” said GOP House Majority Whip Andy Tobin on July 22.
•Late with stimulus funding: She was late to announce Arizona’s application for federal stimulus funds, and lawmakers were left wondering aloud how stimulus funds would be applied to the budget. Her delay wasted precious days in the budget process and led to confusion at the Capitol. Even Republican House Speaker Kirk Adams and Senate President Bob Burns issued calls for more details (see: http://azcapitoltimes.com/blog/2009/05/05/brewer-pressed-for-stimulus-details-rebuffs-lawmakers-requests/).