Why This Budget is Fatally Flawed                             
A partisan budget was sent to the governor by a Republican-only vote. She has until September 5 to decide its fate. Revenue options that prepare invest in our future, balance our budget, and help get us out of this recession are available.

• Massive Cuts to Public Education totaling Nearly a Half Billion Dollars
• $102 million cut to basic funding by not funding the inflation factor that had just been restored in the July 6 temporary budget compromise.
• Includes the reduction of the $121 million in education funding cuts that were part of the FY09 budget fix passed on January 31, 2009.
• $175 million additional cut to soft capital until January 1, 2010.
• Fails to provide any funding for the new utility formula that was passed last session for "excess utilities" (this is an $80 million cut to school districts that previously levied for "excess utilities").
• Reduces the Career Ladder program funding by 0.5% for FY10 (from 5.5% to 5%).
• Punitive Language to Strip Basic Rights of Teachers
• Prohibits school district employment contracts from including compensated days for professional association activities.
• Prohibits a school district from adopting policies that provide employment retention priority for teachers based on tenure or seniority.
• Removes the current prohibition against school districts reducing the salary of a tenured teacher except under a general salary reduction applied equitably to all tenured teachers.
• Removes the contract dates (between March 15 and May 15) in which districts are required to offer teaching contracts for tenured teachers.  Thus, there will be no date in statute set for contracts and school districts will each set their own contract notification deadline.
• Eliminates the May 15 statutory deadline for notice of salary reduction.  Instead allows each school district to set its own salary reduction deadline for teachers.
• Removes current statute that requires a school board to notify a provisional teacher of nonrenewal by April 15; thus, there will be no date in statute set for this notification.
• Removes the current statutory requirement for a school district to give a preferred right of reappointment to a job for a teacher who has lost his/her job through the reduction in force (RIF) process if a job becomes available within three years of the RIF process.
• Reduces the time frame for requesting a hearing on dismissal or long-term suspension from 30 days to 10 days. 
• Reduces the amount of a time a school district must allow a teacher to correct inadequate classroom performance from 85 instructional days to 60 instructional days after receiving notice.
• Tax Cuts that Reward Large Corporations
• Permanently repeals the state school equalization property tax.  This is a loss of revenue to the state of approximately $250 million per year that provides the largest tax cuts to corporations. Average homeowners property tax cuts are only about $5 per month.
• Reduces the assessment ratio for secondary property tax purposes on business property from 22% to 16% beginning in tax year 2012. This will shift the local property tax burden from businesses to homeowners and makes it more difficult to pass bonds and overrides for schools
• Cuts to Vital State Services that Impact Children and Families
• Cuts to Child Protective Services, Childcare subsidies and Homeless Children Services total nearly $40 million.
• Reduction of response time and availability to state services will be severely limited by a reduction in funding for state staff of more $252 million.
• Job Cuts that Deepen the Recession
• Across the board reduction of 5% of all state employees' jobs resulting in the loss of 2500 jobs.
• Arizona is already experiencing high job loss and unemployment. These job losses will deepen the recession, reduce revenue to the state, and increase the demand for unemployment and government healthcare services.
• Continued Deficit for Arizona's Budget
• Budget deficit will grow to nearly $2 billion dollars for FY2011 when federal stimulus funds are no longer available.
• In FY 2012 the deficit will grow to $2.6 billion.