Janet Napolitano

State Treasurer Dean Martin said Monday he wants lawmakers to give him more flexibility over when he has to pay his bills to keep — or at least delay — the state from going in the red and eventually maybe even having to declare bankruptcy.

Martin also said he may need to borrow money just to keep the state’s checks from bouncing, something the state hasn’t done since the Great Depression.

Those options, he said, only help the problem of cash flow: More money going out than coming in. Martin said, though, the only real solution is for lawmakers to stop spending money so fast.

The Arizona Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider the claim by cities that the state - and Gov. Janet Napolitano in particular - illegally took some of their funds.

In a brief order, the justices said they want to hear arguments about whether the provision ordering cities to surrender $29,748,400 is effectively a tax. That's the argument being made by attorney Paul Eckstein who represents the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

If the court sides with Eckstein, then what lawmakers and the governor did is illegal for two reasons.

First, the order to the cities was put into the bill enacting the new $9.

Jan Lesher, chief of staff to Gov. Janet Napolitano, told the Tucson Daily Star  Tuesday that she'll accept a position with the Department of Homeland Security.
That's the same federal agency that will soon be under Napolitano's watch, assuming her confirmation hearings go off without a hitch and she doesn't go all Bill Richardson on us.
Lesher only became chief of staff in August, taking over for former chief Dennis Burke. Burke is said to be eyeing an appointment as U.S. Attorney representing Arizona, and is currently helping set up Napolitano's office in D.C.
As for Lesher, she told The Star "there's nothing ...

read the rest of this post

 Lawmakers will be more in the spirit of taking back money than giving it when the legislative session starts next week with Arizona facing an estimated $3 billion hole.

SPECIAL REPORT: 'Reasonable Doubt' examines sheriff's human smuggling unit 

Except, perhaps, when it comes to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his human smuggling unit.

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said he will work to deliver the sheriff’s office new money for operations targeting illegal immigrants next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

“Sheriff Joe is going to get his $1.6 million back to go after human smuggling,” Pearce said.

As incoming chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, Pearce said he intends to use his leverage to protect the Gang Intelligence and Immigration Team Enforcement — or “GIITEM” — program from major budget cuts.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has announced committee assignments for freshmen. Our own newly elected Ann Kirkpatrick has been assigned to the Homeland Security committee, along with the newly elected Ben Lujan of New Mexico.

This means that Kirkpatrick will have oversight responsibilities for Janet Napolitano’s department. Hrm…

By the way, Kirkpatrick’s website is up. Like all freshman websites, it will suck until mid-February.

No Comments

Filed under Ann Kirkpatrick, Janet Napolitano, Nancy Pelosi

State Treasurer Dean Martin has dropped any plans he might have had to seek the governor's seat in 2010.
"I'm running for re-election as treasurer," Martin said at a news conference Monday. "I'e told gov, er, Secretary of State Brewer that."
Jan Brewer's pending ascension to the Governor's Office might have something to do with that. She's expected to become Arizona's 22nd governor later this month, if  current Gov. Janet Napolitano is confirmed as the nation's next secretary of Homeland Security.
Plus, Martin has got to be having barrels of fun managing the state's checkbook . He's predicting  that the state will be ...

read the rest of this post

Gov. Janet Napolitano is headed to Washington next week in her bid for her new job.

But she may not be governor when she finally returns.

Gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Napolitano flies to the nation's capital midday this coming Tuesday, just 24 hours after giving what is expected to be her last State of the State speech. The governor is awaiting confirmation as Barack Obama's pick to be the next chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"At this point there is not a return on her schedule,” said L'Ecuyer.

Congressional Quarterly is reporting that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has tentatively scheduled confirmation hearings for Jan.

The guys over at Sonoran Alliance have a long (over 1200 words!) defense of Randy Pullen from an attack by lobbyist and blogger Farrell Quinlan. They start the post with a declaration of the purpose of blogs:

But blogs also play a similarly vital role: Correcting other blogs. Every blog makes errors and the more authors and posts, the more likely that errors will be made. Certainly Sonoran Alliance has made its share.

Yep, they make their share. In fact, they made one only two paragraphs later:

Quinlan praises Sen. Jim Waring for trying to crack down on elected public officials who use taxpayer dollars to fund communications to the public that do more to promote themselves than anything else.

I’m sure some of you checked out the article in yesterday’s Republic where State Treasurer Dean Martin (insert Rat Pack joke here) basically declared that the State of Arizona will be flat broke by Feburary.

Here’s a bit I found interesting towards the end of the article:

The situation might not be so dire if lawmakers had held a special session last month to start chipping away at the deficit, Martin said. Any cuts would have reduced the strain on the cash flow.

So, in other words, if legislative leaders had gone into special session like the Governor wanted back in November or December, we’d be better off.

State Treasurer Dean Martin said today Arizona may have to borrow at least $2.5 billion, and as much as $5.7 billion, in the next 100 days to meet state spending obligations.

The state is spending faster than revenue is coming in and is on track to run out of cash in the next 60 to 90 days, the treasurer’s office said in a prepared statement.

During the first half of the current fiscal year – which ran from July through December - the state was spending more than $28 million per day. During the first five months of that period, the state was collecting an average of only $22.