A series of budget presentations by state lawmakers and a top official of Gov. Doug Ducey’s office made its way to Casa Grande on Thursday, where attendees heard about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the recent FY2022 state budget process.
The budget roadshow, as the program has been nicknamed, previously traveled to Cottonwood and Prescott in northern Arizona. This week there were three locations on the roadshow’s schedule: Sierra Vista, Tucson, and Casa Grande, where Mayor Craig McFarland welcomed Sen. David Gowan and Matt Gress, director of Strategic Planning and Budgeting for the governor.
Gowan (R-LD14, Sierra Vista) chairs the Senate’s Appropriations Committee. He reviewed five key “good” aspects of the budget: tax rate reduction, infrastructure investment, significant payoff of state debt, added K-12 education funding, and increased compensation for state public safety personnel.
Gress called the FY2022 budget signed by Ducey “unprecedented” and reviewed a number of highlights in the areas of Public Safety, Tax Relief, Natural Resources, and Fiscal Responsibility. Among those highlights was approval of nearly $2 billion to paydown state debt.
Some of that debt dates back to the recession more than a decade, with a significant amount of the budget allocation being used to paydown state pension fund liability.
One area Gowan highlighted was K-12 Education, which he said has continually been “the most protected” aspect of the budget year to year. Nearly 55 percent of the state’s FY2022 budget is allocated for education, he said.
The Arizona Constitution requires a balanced budget, according to Gowan. Among the budget challenges for state lawmakers is that more than 85 percent of all land in the state is government owned. Which means that while Arizona is the sixth largest state by area (at nearly 73 million acres), property taxes can only be levied against about 13 percent of those acres, he said.
But while the focus of Thursday’s program was on the FY2022 budget, Gress said the lawmakers and legislative staff involved in the preliminary budget process are already being briefed by state agency and department heads ahead of the Jan. 10, 2022 start of the next session. Gress explained that this allows everyone to “do their homework” on those issues expected to the central to the new budget.
Gress and Gowan agreed that water will be one of the top issues during the next session. And while discussing the upcoming session, Gress said anyone expecting Ducey to be a lame duck during his last year in office should think again.
Ducey’s term as governor is over at the end of 2022, but Gress said the governor “is going to make the most” of his remaining time. And that means continued attention to budgetary decisions which strengthen and support Arizona’s economy.
Fletcher Montzingo of the Senate Appropriations Committee was also on hand for the roadshow in Casa Grande. And Rep. Neal Carter (R-LD8, San Tan Valley) was in attendance, just one day after being appointed to the House of Representatives by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors to fill the seat held by Rep. Frank Pratt who died last month.
The budget roadshow will be at the Pima Community College – Downtown Campus Auto Center on Friday. The program starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs until Noon.
Communities in hosting a budget roadshow should contact the office of Rep. Regina Cobb (R-LD5, Kingman) at 602-926-3126.
