Budget Battle Puts Arizona Weeks Away From Paying Employees in IOUs; Maybe Lawmakers Will Get the Hint When They Stop Getting Paid
Categories: Budget Blunders
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Martin spoke to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and the Public Debt yesterday and broke the bad news to lawmakers -- if they can't iron out a budget, IOUs for government employees are right around the corner.
Martin says if there is no deal by February 1, when state schools are given their monthly $325 million operating funds, the state's cash flow will have maxed out and the schools will be out of luck.
Fortunately there is a plan B, since plan A -- where citizens elect competent people to handle the state's finances in a timely manner -- hasn't exactly worked out.
The state is set to sell several government buildings to private investors with a plan to lease and buy the buildings back over time. That plan would bring in about $735 million and keep the state afloat for a few more weeks. Martin tells the New York Times that plan is "on track" and the money should be available by mid-January
Let's hope so -- nobody seems to have a plan C at this point and giving lawmakers the benefit of the doubt by assuming they can get some sort of budget worked out has just become depressing.
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