By Howard Fischer
Twitter: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Senate Republicans gave up Thursday on trying to hammer out a deal for a new $12.8 billion spending plan and a $1.9 billion tax cut.

"We thought we were really, really close to getting a budget done today,'' said Senate President Karen Fann.

But the Prescott Republican said those hopes dissolved.

"Over the last 12 hours we're further apart now than we were,'' she said. Fann said there were "a lot of new requests, a lot of new demands'' by lawmakers on what they wanted to see in the package.

"So, it would be futile for us to try and put this up (for a vote) and get something passed,'' she explained. "We obviously need to put things back together again and figure out where we are going to go from here.''

Sen. Fann's efforts to get all 16 Republicans in her chamber to agree are complicated by the fact  some believe there is too much spending on things they do not consider priorities while others have "asks'' of their own. And she needs 16 votes in the 30-member chamber to advance a plan.

The same problem exists across the courtyard where Republicans, who have just 31 votes in that 60-member body, find a divergence of interests.

At this point the plan is to recess the session for two weeks, until June 10, though the procedural motion to set that as a date to reconvene does permit earlier action if Sen. Fann and House Speaker Rusty Bowers believe it is necessary.

Sen. Fann, in an interview with Capitol Media Services, expressed frustration that the plan did not come together.

"We were really, really close'' on Wednesday night, she said. "And we thought all we had to do was ...button up six or eight little things that we needed to clarify.''

All that changed overnight.

"When we came back in this (Thursday) morning we now had a list of new things from the House, people that wanted things in the budget and people that wanted things out of the budget,'' Sen. Fann explained.

But she said it isn't that simple.

"Most of the things they wanted out of the budget were either things belonging to the governor or other members,'' Sen. Fann said without providing specifics. "And it was negotiated with them to get them on the budget with those things.''

She isn't just blaming House members.

"Some of our Senate members this morning, they came in with some new or adjusted requests, things that we thought we had an agreement on,'' Sen. Fann said. "Apparently there wasn't a solid agreement,'' she said, particularly when the deals were reduced to specific budget language.

"So we needed a little more time to get people back closer on board with it,'' Sen. Fann said.

All that leaves the question of whether another two weeks will make any difference.

"Yeah, I'm going to stick my neck out and say I'm confident,'' she said.

Sen. Fann has something else working in her favor: a hard deadline of July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, to adopt a spending plan.
"That is our only, No. 1 constitutional thing we must do,'' Sen. Fann said.
"Everything else is superfluous,'' she continued. "Consequently, the closer it gets to that date, the more urgency and pressure that people will finally say, 'OK, I'm going to have to give a little on this one.' ''

And what of seeking votes from Democrats if some of her own members won't go along?

That has happened in the past when it was easier for GOP leaders to alter the plan to attract bipartisan support to get around a few Republican holdouts.

"It's still to early,'' Sen. Fann said.
Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, said she's willing to talk.

"I keep waiting for my phone to ring,'' she told Capitol Media Services. And Sen. Rios said she doubts that Sen. Fann will come to her soon, at least not as long as a centerpiece of the GOP plan is a flat 2.5% tax rate and a cap on other income taxes on the most wealthy.

"The flat tax is a non-starter for Democrats,'' she said. "So that could be why they have not invited us to the table yet.''

Still, Sen. Rios said Democrats are willing to discuss some sort of tax cut.

But it would be nowhere near the $1.9 billion annual cost. And, more to the point, it would have to be structured in a radically different way.

"Democrats would be more than willing to sit down and negotiate a budget that provided tax relief across the board, to working families, not a tax cut that it aimed at the top 20%,'' Sen. Rios said. "That's ludicrous.''

So, is that an option for Fann?

"Well, everything's negotiable when you've got to do 16 and 31,'' she said, the number of votes needed to enact a budget.

Sen. Rios said if Republican leaders want votes from Democrats there will be some other asks. And much of that revolves around relief for Arizonans still dealing with the effects and after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said that means dealing "substantially'' with issues of homelessness, evictions, child care assistance and more money to help relatives deal with children who have been removed from their homes rather than place with with Department of Child Safety.