County Supervisors Association of Arizona

In the January 15, 2009 CSA Update:

Governor Brewer Releases Budget Plan-Shift of Juvenile Offenders to Cost Counties Millions
Supervisors Archuleta, Tenney Brief AZ's Congressional Delegation on County Issues
Pinal County Gets $1.5 Million for Green Jobs
This Week at the Legislature
Next Week at the Legislature
Calendar

Governor Brewer Releases Budget Plan-Shift of Juvenile Offenders to Cost Counties Millions

Governor Brewer released her FY11 budget plan today, and the plan to close the state's projected $3.2 billion FY11 shortfall. The plan also contains a number of items designed to take effect immediately, in an effort to close the remaining $1.4 billion shortfall in FY10. The Governor's plan relies on spending cuts, debt financing, rollovers, and acquisition of new revenues through a temporary sales tax increase she is asking the Legislature to authorize immediately--the Governor's staff noted there is no time left to refer the tax to the ballot.

The Governor's plan includes a number of county impacts. Most significantly, the plan would close the state's Department of Juvenile Corrections, sending the Department's 400 plus juvenile offenders to county facilities instead. The state estimates that closing the Department will save $63 millions, while the costs will be passed on to Arizona's 15 counties. The Governor has asked for a transition task force to be created to study the details of the proposed transition, although she is asking the legislature to close the Department (and eliminate its over 900 employees) immediately.

Additionally, the plan:

Eliminates $4.8 million in Prop 204 Hold Harmless funds distributed to counties,
Requires counties to fund 100% of the costs of housing sexually violent prisoners in the Arizona State Hospital, retroactive to July 2009, and
Eliminates the Local Transportation Assistance Funds

among other impacts. Counties have already absorbed over $119 million in cost shifts and fund sweeps due to the budget crisis.

CSA will release a complete analysis of the Governor's budget plan next week.

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Supervisors Archuleta, Tenney Brief AZ's Congressional Delegation on County Issues

CSA President and Coconino County Supervisor Liz Archuleta joined Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney to lobby Arizona's federal delegation on issues important to Arizona's counties.

District IV Supervisor The Supervisors met with six of Arizona's eight Congressional delegation during this week's trip to Washington D.C. High on the list of important issues was the impact of proposed health care legislation, which could drastically increase Arizona's Medicaid population without providing additional funding. The Supervisors told the delegation that the current plan would be fiscally devastating for counties and the state overall, and encouraged them to support a plan accompanied by full federal funding.

Supervisors Archuleta and Tenney also expressed support for additional federal money to support the enhanced FMAP (Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage) program. Enhanced FMAP increases the percentage of Medicaid costs paid by the federal government, and it was an essential part of the stimulus package that prevented state and local governments from falling into fiscal insolvency driven by Medicaid costs. The current program expires in December 2011, leaving a "cliff" when the money disappears. Supervisors Archuleta and Tenney supported a six-month extension of FMAP being debated in the U.S. Senate.

Finally, the Supervisors also asked the delegation to support the federal tax intercept program. This program, which requires Congressional approval, would allow state and county courts to intercept federal tax refunds to pay overdue court fines and fees. Intercepted funds would also be used to pay victim restitution. The tax intercept program would provide much needed revenue without raising taxes, and the Supervisors encouraged the Arizona delegation to support the effort and to cosponsor the plan in HR 1956.

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Pinal County Gets $1.5 Million for Green Jobs

From The Arizona Republic-by Lindsey Collom - Jan. 13, 2010

About 100 low-income residents in Pinal and Gila counties are expected to benefit from a $1.5 million green jobs training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Labor Department announced Wednesday that the National Association of Regional Councils was one of at least 38 recipients of "Pathways Out of Poverty" grants authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Of the $8 million given to the national association, $1.5 million will go to the Central Arizona Association of Governments (CAAG) for use in Pinal and Gila counties.

The grants are designed to support programs to help disadvantaged persons find ways out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. CAAG will target citizens with limited English language proficiency, Native Americans and ex-offenders.

Cathy Melvin, CAAG social services director, said the program will be developed in the coming weeks. Its start date could be as early as March. (Read More...)

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This Week at the Legislature

The Legislature kicked off the 2010 session with a flurry of activity, beginning with Governor's Brewer's State of the State speech. The Governor reminded the Legislature that Arizona was facing the toughest economic time in its history, and told lawmakers they would be forced to choose between "government that is necessary and government that is merely desired." The Governor also reduced the five-point plan she designed last year to close the budget hole down to three points: spending cuts, additional revenues, and budget reform measures, including funneling more savings into the Rainy Day Fund.

The House and Senate held a number of committee hearings, although many committees will hold their first hearings next week. The House imposed a seven-bill introduction limit on its members beginning Thursday at 5:00. The Senate's last day to submit bill requests is January 18th.

The legislature acted on the following county-related bills this week:

HB 2035: university athletic facilities district (Nichols) was approved 4-2 in House Ways and Means.

HB 2158: data processing for county taxes (Murphy) was approved 7-0 in House Ways and Means.

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Next Week at the Legislature

Next week is a short week at the legislature, which is closed on Monday for Civil Rights Day. Click here to watch the committee hearings live, or click here to view archived video of committees. (Agendas are subject to change; visit the legislative calendar for updates on daily calendars.)

The legislature is scheduled to hear the following county-related bills next week:

HB 2044: vicious animals; assault; classification (Montenegro) and

HB 2069: county election law amendments (Tobin) and

HB 2109: superior court; holiday hours (Tobin) are scheduled to be heard in House Judiciary on Thursday, January 21 at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 4.

HB 2081: Department of Water Resources; continuation (Mason) and

HB 2083: drought; emergency groundwater transfers (Mason) will be heard in House Water and Energy on Thursday, January 21 at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 5.

HB 2085: photo enforcement; citation issuance (Mason) will be heard in House Transportation and Infrastructure on Thursday, January 21 at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 3.

HB 2145: county planning and zoning (Konopnicki) will be heard in House Government on Tuesday, January 19 at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 4.

SB 1018: photo enforcement procedures; justice courts (R. Pearce) and

SB 1071: involuntary civil committment; privileged communication (Paton) will be heard in Senate Public Safety and Human Services on Wednesday, January 20 at 9:00 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 3.

SB 1031: voter registration drives; overseas voters (R. Pearce) will be heard in Senate Government Institutions on Thursday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1.

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Calendar

Visit the CSA calendar of events at www.countysupervisors.org/calendar.

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