HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 52ND LEGISLATURE
Budget
After years of papering over imbalanced state budgets, the new Governor and Republican Leadership in the Legislature committed to achieving a structurally balanced budget. A budget that spends only those monies that are available provides the state with fiscal stability, improves credit ratings, and establishes a better climate for businesses looking to expand.
As our state economy slowly continues to improve after the recession, there is a temptation to immediately expand state services. By holding to a conservative approach as revenues increase, Arizona will be in a stronger position to prioritize and allocate available resources to help the most crucial areas of our state.
Structurally Balanced Budget by FY 2018:
$717 million projected shortfall in FY 2015
$257 million projected shortfall in FY 2016
$125 million projected shortfall in FY 2017
$33 million projected positive structural balance in FY 2018.
Even as difficult decisions were made to produce a structurally balanced budget, leaders made sure K-12 education was not harmed. In fact, K-12 spending has a net increase of $105 million General Fund spending from FY 2015 to FY 2016. That growth is significant given that Arizona was facing a $1 billion deficit going into budget discussions.
K-12 – Overall Total K-12 Spending Increased by $105 million:
$91 million to fully fund formula increases
$85 million increase in K-12 inflation funding
$74 million for additional K-12 inflation funding
$0.5 million for Teach For America
$1.0 million for JTED Soft Capital