By Howard Fischer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-817544.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – Jan Brewer will formally take the oath of office this afternoon
as the 22nd person to be the governor.
Gubernatorial press aide Paul Senseman said that Brewer's first
order of business will be educating Arizonans about exactly how
deep the state's financial problem is.
Senseman said, "She's going to talk a little bit about how we're going to figure
this out, fix it and get Arizona moving again. So I think you'll
see Mrs. Brewer paint a vision for what she sees as a successful
Arizona being in the near future."
While she's not being sworn in until later, Brewer officially got
the job at 4:52 p.m. Tuesday when Napolitano, newly confirmed by
the U.S. Senate as Homeland Security secretary, submitted her
resignation. Napolitano leaves behind -- and Brewer inherits -- a
$1.6 billion deficit for the balance of this fiscal year and $3
billion in red ink for next year. However, Senseman said late Monday
that Brewer won't be using the speech to propose specific
spending cuts or budget fixes.
"We're very well aware how important it is to move quickly on
these issues and get some of those more specific solutions done.
But tomorrow is really to sketch out more of a vision of what she
would like to do and how she would like to serve the state of
Arizona," Senseman said.