Az lawmakers eye special session on budget

Arizona lawmakers are expected to hold a special session before the end of the year on a budget shortfall now estimated at $1.2 billion.

Gov. Janet Napolitano and top legislative leaders met for about an hour Thursday to begin discussing options for closing the gap in the current $9.9 billion budget.

"We are now generally in agreement that we are working off a $1.2 billion number," Napolitano said. "It couild be a little bit higher, a little bit lower, but about $1.2 billion."

The governor said the economy has worsened since she said a few weeks ago that she didn't think the deficit would exceed $1 billion.

"Since then, both sales and corporate tax revenues have been below projections," she said. "This is true not only in Arizona, but around the country as well."

After her meeting with Republican leaders of the House and Senate, Napolitano said, "I think we were in agreement that there will have to be a special session, but that the special session should occur when we -- meaning leadership and myself -- have reached agreement about what exactly needs to be done, so we don't have legislators just milling around here. They come in, they vote, we're ready to go."

Holding the special session before the regular session convenes in January would help with planning for the next budget and also help state agencies know sooner where they stand, officials said. The next budget will cover the fiscal year that starts July 1.

``The sooner we get this done, the easier it will be for the new Legislature coming in,'' said outgoing Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson.

Napolitano said she had begun presenting lawmakers with ideas for closing the shortfall but declined to describe them. ``Not right now because the members need to have a chance to look at this,'' she said.

Bee said he was ``very encouraged by some of the proposals.''

Napolitano previously said she would identify possible cuts that state agencies can make in their operations. She also has cited a partial state hiring freeze she ordered in May.