This has been brewing (no pun intended). The Legislature has refused to vote on any bills until the budget is resolved for the entire session. They've considered some bills in committee and only last week started to vote on bills as a body. So, they've accomplished nothing and now threaten to shut down the state. They've tried putting some real gimmicks into their budgets such as not allowing cities to collect deveopers' impact fees (the cities use these to repay bonds). So this means cities will need to charge more for services. But, our neo-Libertarian Legislators can say that they didn't raise taxes! What the Leg. needs is honesty about the state's situation and an honest solution, not gamesmanship.
(Governor) Brewer sues Legislature for release of budget bills
Capitol tensions heightened Tuesday as Gov. Jan Brewer filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Legislature, accusing lawmakers of violating the state Constitution with their refusal to send her a state-budget plan they passed nearly two weeks ago.
Brewer is asking the state Supreme Court to order the Legislature to send her the 2010 budget bills so that she may sign or veto them. The 55-page filing names as defendants the full House and Senate, and specifically cites House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, and Secretary of the Senate Charmion Billington.
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But suing a Republican-led Legislature by a Republican governor met an exasperated response from legislators.
Adams said it could further hamper budget talks. "We've just added to the list of unusual things that have happened," Adams said. "The only thing that could happen next is snow in June."
The suit comes as state officials race to reach agreement on a 2010 spending plan before the fiscal year ends June 30. If no deal is struck, the state faces the prospect of at least a partial government shutdown.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/06/17/20090617brewer-suit0617.html