More than 200 people attended a public forum on the state budget held by Democratic members of the state Legislature on Monday evening in the Tempe campus Memorial Union.
The legislators, including Tempe Reps. David Schapira, Ed Ableser and Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, listened to the concerns and comments of audience members. Most of the speakers said they have been personally affected by cuts to state programs, particularly services for the disabled.
Parents of children with disabilities pleaded with legislators to keep cuts to disabled services at a minimum.
“I’m not asking for a check,” said Tempe resident Richard Fife, whose son has autism. “I’m asking that the parents in need of [disability] services … get education and trained individuals to assist them in creating an atmosphere conducive to helping give children a solid foundation of independence.”
The issue of a proposed decrease in funding to programs for disabled children and their families was the most commonly addressed issue at the forum. State employees working in programs for disabled children said they are facing funding and pay cuts that could keep them from being able to support themselves.
ASU alumna and music therapist Melissa Kelley said the pay cuts for people in her profession could drive therapists out of the state.
“Our [pay] was reduced to that of someone who does not have a high-school diploma,” Kelley said. “I think it’ll keep high-quality music therapists that are already in the state from being able to practice
effectively.”
The state is facing a projected budget shortfall of more than $3 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, which will force legislators to find additional sources of revenue and make budget cuts. A list of budget options released last month includes proposed cuts of $233 million cuts to the state university system and $94 million to the state Department of Health Services.
In an interview before the meeting, Rep. Vic Williams, R-Tucson, said the cuts to the 2010 budget could be lower because the Legislature has more time to look for alternate sources of funding. The former governor and Legislature, he said, did not work quickly enough to overcome the projected shortfall in 2009.
“We were caught having to fix a poorly crafted budget,” Williams said. “We did not have time to have effective revenue enhancements.”
Schapira said Democrats in the Legislature are also looking into alternative funding sources, including allowing a three-year suspension on state property taxes to expire. Republicans in the Legislature, Schapira added, are trying to repeal the tax permanently.
“If the Legislature simply does nothing, we could bring in an additional $250 million in revenue,” Schapira said. “The Legislature has proposed a bill to permanently get rid of [the tax], and today, it passed in committee.”
Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said Democrats are also trying to keep Republicans from cutting additional taxes for businesses, which he said would cut revenue and force lawmakers to cut spending even more.
“We cannot afford another $1 billion in lost revenue in the form of tax [cuts for businesses],” he said.
Among the speakers at the meeting was molecular biology senior Haroon Saleem, who asked how the Democratic lawmakers, a minority in both houses, could stop conservative lawmakers from making large-scale cuts in state funding to the university system.
“Claiming the legislators will fight for us gives us a false sense of security,” Saleem said. “The empty rhetoric is not working.”
Schapira responded with a sentiment echoed by other legislators throughout the meeting: Citizens must be vocal and active, he said.
“The people who are at the Legislature are only there because people choose to elect them,” Schapira said. “And if the people who elected them stand up and say, ‘I will hold you accountable,’ then the people who did not stand with us in opposing those education cuts will think twice.”
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
