Governor Doug Ducey has submitted his budget proposal for the 2016 fiscal year beginning in July. The Governor’s goal is to balance the state budget by the following year, and as Arizona Public Radio’s Justin Regan reports, that involves a lot of spending cuts.
Higher education will take large cuts across the board. Northern Arizona University will see an 11 percent budget cut, Arizona State University will lose 13 percent and the University of Arizona 10 percent. Community colleges will lose 14 percent of their state funding, and the Department of Education will experience a smaller cut of less than 1 percent.
In addition, Ducey is siding with the state legislature over how much backpay is owed to public schools, as a result of a current lawsuit involving inflation adjustments. He says, that number is $74 million, not the more than $330 million a judge ruled the state is obligated to pay.
Also, the Office of Tourism’s funding will be cut by more than 70 percent. But, the departments of Corrections, Child Safety and Economic Security will all see an increase in funding over last year.
