Budget Backdoor

The Arizona State Legislature has managed to pass a budget, albeit not the one anyone in academia would like to see. Missing their midnight deadline by three hours, Republican lawmakers managed to bully through a budget that drastically cut money for public services. Gov. Brewer's proposed state-wide vote on a small tax increase to pay for basic services was cast aside.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/299275.php

The attitude of certain elected officials is extremely disappointing:
"Meanwhile, Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, said he was pleased with the outcome of the budget. He said Brewer has “no grounds to veto it.”
“If she vetos it, it’s only because she’s in a huff because she didn’t get her sales tax increase,” Melvin said."

You can bet your ass (pardon my language, but I'm ticked off) that Sen. Melvin would never have referred to a male lawmaker as 'in a huff'.

Check out this AZ Star cartoon:

(http://www.azstarnet.com/)

Keep in mind that several back-door policies are being flung around the legislature, tacked on to other bills or hiding behind misleading titles: concealed weapons on campus, for example.

Are you sufficiently indignant? Have you written a very angry e-mail to your lawmakers lately?

See the column to the left for contact information. Remind your representatives that you are ticked off and that you vote for people who really care about the future of Arizona.