Arizona is flush with cash but weeks into an impasse at the Legislature over the coming year’s state budget.
As a result, Republican leaders are looking at unusual solutions to try to break the logjam.
Republicans hold just one-vote majorities in both the Senate and House and are openly talking about trying to pass a “continuation budget,” that funds government at the current year’s level plus inflation adjustments.
That plan was discussed with reporters last week and surfaced as legislation in the House on Monday.
Its prospects appear iffy at best. The plan would leave a whopping $5.3 billion in surplus cash sitting in the state treasury, even after accounting for $1.7 billion in income tax cuts enacted by the Legislature over unified Democratic opposition last year.