The state should not cut short spending on health care, education, transportation and public safety due to recent economic downturn, Gov. Janet Napolitano said in her sixth State of the State address Monday.
In her annual speech to legislators, the governor asked lawmakers to consider several spending proposals, despite a projected budget deficit of $1 billion, which she said was temporary.
"It is not permanent. It is not a sign that Arizona's growth will stall," she said. "It is not an excuse to stop working toward what we all believe in."
Many of her proposals, which focused on education, economic growth, public safety, transportation and health care, she said would be cost-neutral, paid through state savings.
Republican leadership in the Legislature, however, was skeptical as to how her proposed tuition freeze at state universities and expanded health care for young adults, could be cost-neutral.
"The governor has made something that sounds great utopia-wise," said Speaker of the House Jim Weiers. "But the devil's in the details."
Napolitano proposed a tuition freeze for all three public Arizona universities, in which tuition rates are fixed, and not increased annually, for the four years a student is in college.
Under her direction, the Department of Administration will search for ways under the state health insurance plan to expand coverage to young adults, up to age 25, under their parent's insurance.
She further proposed the state double the number of bachelor's degrees awarded by 2020, boost the average high school dropout age from 16 to 18 and award all high school students earning a "B" average free tuition at any community college or state university.
The governor also put forward a three-step plan to protect Arizonans from subprime-lending scams. The plan includes licensing loan officers and investors buying homes, as well as a home buyer's "Bill of Rights," an informative booklet online and in print that can be used as a tool for making financial decisions.
Napolitano also suggested the state require that by 2025 all electric utilities provide 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.
In regard to the employers sanctions law that Napolitano signed last year, she encouraged the Legislature to better define what constitutes a complaint, so that law enforcement officials do not waste time chasing down anonymous calls from "malicious competitors or disgruntled employees." She also asked the Legislature to redirect money from successful racketeering prosecutions to fund enforcement.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate criticized the Democratic governor for not addressing the state's budget deficit in greater detail, but said the Legislature looks forward to working more closely with her on the proposals.
