AZ Senate President-Elect Steve Pierce on the Budget

Less than a year ago, state lawmakers faced the largest budget deficit in state history. Thankfully, we responded by enacting a responsible, conservative budget that aligned spending with revenues without the accounting gimmicks and debt that marked earlier budgets.

Now that our efforts to balance the budget have been successful, state revenues are increasing. With them are calls from interest groups for legislators to restore funding to a variety or programs and services.

As my constituents know, I am a rancher, not an economist, but ranching has taught me a few things about economics that I think the legislature should bear in mind:

• Pay off your debt first. The state has incurred a tremendous amount of debt, costing taxpayers an extra $300 million per year—money that could be spent on education or refunded to taxpayers.
• Look to the future. The expiration of the temporary one-cent sales tax increase and enactment of federal healthcare reform in 2014 will create a $600 million to $1.2 billion financial cliff that should temper any enthusiasm for new spending.
• Plan for the worst. While the economy does appear to be recovering, conditions can change in a relatively short period. Any rancher can tell you that when you’ve been through a drought, you don’t drain your basin at the first drops of rain.

What this legislature can do is focus on improving Arizona’s business climate and encouraging Arizona companies to remain in the state, paving the way for a strong economic recovery.

These are interesting times at the Legislature. I would never have imagined these mid-term changes in the Senate. I accept the challenges of serving as Senate President with humility and hope for a positive New Year. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues and all of you to do good things for Arizona.

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State Senator Steve Pierce
www.azleg.gov

This story is part of the Chamber's monthly Arizona in Focus email newsletter. To sign up for any or all of the Chamber's email communications, click here.