Use long-term financing for schools
Arizona Republic – 01/22/2008, 12:00 am
Arizona is projected to have a $970 million deficit in fiscal 2008 and a $1.7 billion deficit in fiscal 2009, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Faced with numbers like that, it's clear that the time for debate about how to pay for new K-12 school construction has passed. A move to long-term financing, or bonding, for new-school construction and capital improvements…

Invest in new tools to secure the future
Arizona Daily Sun – 01/22/2008, 08:52 am
Arizona is the land of rapid change. ... yet some things don't seem to change at all. The opening salvos in the debate about how to address the current state revenue shortfall and how to shape next year's budget bring me back to the late 1990s.
...and produce different results. Clara M. Lovett, a former president of Northern Arizona University, is with The Project for Arizona's Future.

Chemicals in AZ water could trigger serious ills
Tucson Citizen – 01/22/2008, 08:08 am
Arizona scientists are researching chemicals in the state water supply that could lead to cancer, infertility, birth defects and other health problems.
'Endocrine disruptors are everywhere,' said David Walker, a University of Arizona researcher who studies the effect of the chemicals on native...

Channel 8 looking for unsung heroes of the nonprofit world
The Business Journal Phoenix – 01/21/2008, 15:05 pm
Arizona State University's KAET-TV Channel 8 is reaching out to honor nonprofit organizations across Arizona. From now through Feb. 15, nominations and applications are being accepted to recognize contributions from nonprofits and their leaders.
Channel 8 looking for unsung heroes of the nonprofit world Arizona State University's KAET-TV Channel 8 is reaching out to honor nonprofit organizations...

Opinion: Napolitano has optimistic budget for 2009
Arizona Daily Star – 01/20/2008
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, Monday delivered to the state Legislature, which has a Republican majority, an optimistic State of the State address. On Friday, she submitted a corresponding budget of $10.7 billion. billion plus deferred costs for a total spending plan of about $11.4 billion for fiscal year 2009. Both reflect her priorities: children, education and jobs. Immediately her critics, such as the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank...

EDITORIAL: Our Opinion: Napolitano has solid path out of state's financial woes
The Tucson Citizen – 01/21/2008
Gov. Janet Napolitano's proposed state budget for the next fiscal year is pretty simple. Her spending plan has been based on a handful of assumptions. Accept them and it all works. Disagree with them and the budget falls apart. And that is the problem. The Republican leadership in the Legislature is unlikely, for philosophical reasons, to accept the principles that are the underpinnings to Napolitano's budget. We, however, think she's on the right track.

Our Opinion: Digging a deeper hole
The Tucson Citizen – 01/21/2008
Arizona state government's financial problems are well documented. The only argument is over the depth of the hole. Is it $970 million of red ink in the current budget? Or is it "only" $870 million? Regardless, this is a big problem that requires immediate and careful attention. So how is the Legislature responding? By proposing a handful of ways to make the budget hole even deeper. Legislators have been in session for only a week. Yet already there are at least three proposals to cut state revenue further,....

EDITORIAL: Our opinion: Shelton has fair concerns on proposal to freeze tuition
The Tucson Citizen – 01/21/2008
We understand concerns that University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton has raised about a fixed-tuition plan. Shelton is the man who must find a way to pay the faculty, operate the classes and generally keep the lights on at UA. And he must do all of that under the assumption that the state's investment in higher education will stagnate or decrease. Shelton expressed those concerns this week but nonetheless joined the presidents of Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University in supporting Gov. Janet Napolitano's vision of a tuition freeze....