When I was appointed Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, I knew that fiscal conservatives faced an uphill fight in the battle to restrain state spending.

 

Little did I know that ‘uphill’ was an enormous underestimation. 

 

After nearly two legislative sessions that saw state spending jump by nearly $2 billion — in spite of the largest budget deficits in state history — I now understand how a mountain climber must feel when he glances up at Mt. Everest before his assent.

 

Sadly for Arizona’s taxpayers and working families, the fiscal conservatives’ brawl against big budgets has largely been lost, thanks to an unholy alliance of free spending Democrats and fiscally irresponsible Republicans. Their "bipartisanship" led to the passage of a $7.5 billion state budget, the largest in state history.

 

The 15 so-called "moderate" Republicans (who number less than one-third of the House Republican Caucus) insisted that, in spite of its size, this budget was “responsible."

 

Well, I’ve got news for those 15 Republicans: the only responsible aspect of this budget is . . . well, actually there is no responsible aspect of this budget. Not only does it fail to reduce our structural deficit, it actually expands the deficit to an estimated $800 million next year.

 

While state revenues are increasing, Arizona would have to experience economic growth at a rate faster than what we saw in the 1990s to prevent an enormous budget deficit next year and the year after. Is this responsible?

 

Even worse, the bloated budget omitted common sense policy reforms that sought to reduce government waste and fraud. Most prominent among these was a measure that would have allowed the state to consider the income earned by an entire household (including other family members or cohabiting boyfriends) before awarding a working mother with child care subsidies.

 

With thousands of working moms on the subsidy waiting list, conservatives wanted to ensure that those who need this generous benefit most are receiving it. Unfortunately, the "moderates" deleted this reform, allowing hundreds, if not thousands of women with live-in boyfriends and family members to receive a benefit they do not financially need.

 

The fiscal consequences of this historically unprecedented budget will not be felt today, or tomorrow, but they will be felt. By acquiescing to the governor’s reckless demand that we use debt to cover our unsustainable level of spending, the 15 "moderate" Republicans have increased our debt load, burdening future legislatures and taxpayers.

 

Unless future legislatures find more courage than this one did, our state will be faced with annual debt payments of over $700 million within 15 to 20 years — crippling our future ability to fund essential services or make tax cuts.

 

Those who enabled this fiscal crisis must be held accountable. By siding with the Democrats and the governor, they have created a perfect storm that will devastate this state’s economy while they are securely collecting their elected officials’ pensions.

 

In this budget battle, the victory has gone to the big spenders, whose willingness to spend money the state doesn’t have practically guarantees an enormous tax hike in the future. 

 

Their tax-hike triumph is Arizona’s loss.

 

Executive Summary

 

The East Valley Tribune ran an article that agencies say: "Prop. 200 could cost millions." Do they not know that illegals are already costing us over a billion?
 

Analysis of the latest Census data indicates that Arizona's illegal immigrant population is costing the state's taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to more than $1 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden borne by Arizonans amounts to more than $700 per household headed by a native-born resident.
 
This analysis looks specifically at the costs of education, health care and incarceration because they represent the largest cost areas and because a 1994 study conducted by the Urban Institute, which also examined these same costs, provides a useful baseline for comparison 10 years later.  Other studies have been conducted in the interim, showing trends that support the conclusions of this report.
 
As this report will note, other significant costs associated with illegal immigration exist and should be taken into account by federal and state officials. But even without accounting for all of the multitude of areas in which costs are being incurred by Arizona taxpayers, the programs analyzed in this study indicate that the burden is substantial and that the costs are rapidly increasing.
 
The more than $1 billion in costs incurred by Arizona taxpayers is comprised of outlays in only three of the following areas: