PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer wants her agency chiefs to figure out which state services will continue and which will not if there is no budget when the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
Under orders from the governor, Bill Bell, director of the Department of Administration, has instructed every state department to determine which services are "essential." The presumption is these will continue, regardless of whether a budget is agreed upon.
Brewer said the state needs to be prepared if no budget agreement is reached. And as of Monday, not only was there no budget, but talks between the governor and Republican legislative leaders had broken down.
Bell's memo to agency directors said there is a presumption that certain functions would continue, with or without legislative authority to spend money. For example, he said the state constitution specifically requires a workers' compensation system. That ensures all who are injured in work-related accidents get medical bills paid and receive a portion of their lost salaries.
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Bell also said the state is required to comply with court orders, such as a mandate by a judge to take custody of someone sentenced for a crime, which would likely keep the prison system operating. And there are federal requirements to provide health care for inmates.
However, the memo does not address whether the Department of Public Safety or other state law-enforcement functions are legally considered essential. Bell said voter-approved mandates likely would qualify for continued funding.
That should protect the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's indigent health-care program. But voters never approved some of the extra mandates, such as the KidsCare program, which provides nearly free care for the children of the working poor.
Other items might not be essential but are critical to keep essential functions running.
One example, said Alan Ecker, spokesman for the Department of Administration, is the Department of Revenue, which processes sales-tax payments and income-tax withholding — money that would be needed for those mandated services.
And someone will be needed to process the paychecks for the employees still working. "It's a complex issue," Ecker said.
Bell said the state also still needs to figure out which bills must be paid immediately and which can wait.
