GOP Budget Protects Stimulus Funding
The doom and gloom headlines and predictions about the state losing federal stimulus dollars for education because GOP budget reductions were too “severe” have been proven untrue.
Yesterday news broke that federal officials approved Arizona’s plans for $1 billion in education stimulus funding. The Majority budget did not place stimulus money at-risk when the Legislature passed a balanced FY2010 budget last week.
In fact, Majority members intended all along to utilize federal stimulus funding to backfill education reductions as they worked to ensure education be held as harmless as possible throughout the budget process.
Unfortunately, many legislators received emails and phone calls from concerned teachers, parents and students due to Governor Brewer’s, the Democrats and the universities’ very public concerns about the GOP budget proposal that in the end wasn’t even accurate.
The Majority budget did not endanger the state of losing federal stimulus dollars. The accusations and attacks were unwarranted, unsubstantiated and more importantly, unnecessary.
Yesterday news broke that federal officials approved Arizona’s plans for $1 billion in education stimulus funding. The Majority budget did not place stimulus money at-risk when the Legislature passed a balanced FY2010 budget last week.
In fact, Majority members intended all along to utilize federal stimulus funding to backfill education reductions as they worked to ensure education be held as harmless as possible throughout the budget process.
Unfortunately, many legislators received emails and phone calls from concerned teachers, parents and students due to Governor Brewer’s, the Democrats and the universities’ very public concerns about the GOP budget proposal that in the end wasn’t even accurate.
The Majority budget did not endanger the state of losing federal stimulus dollars. The accusations and attacks were unwarranted, unsubstantiated and more importantly, unnecessary.