Should we start a budget pool?

One with all money raised going to defray the state's deficit?

Depending on your source, budget negotiations have...

...broken down (Capitol Times this morning, subscription required)

...ongoing, but maybe going nowwhere (Arizona Republic's Political Insider)

...ongoing, but whether or not they are making progress, the Governor isn't going anywhere - she has cancelled her planned trip to Mexico in case the talks make actual progress (they all have this one, but since the Rep's website doesn't require a subscription, I'll link to that one; Tedski at R-Cubed has some early details here)

...ongoing, but possibly a sham that involves talking to the Democrats to try to scare the hardcore wingers in the Rep caucus "into thinking that they might do a deal with Dems that conservatives might hate worse than the Republican leadership plan." (latest Farley Report, a weekly update email from State Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). No link at this time, but Tedski will post part or all of it at his blog, as will Zelph at AZNetroots.)


My prediction for the pool - Governor signs most of the budget, vetoes enough to give her leverage in a fourth special session to get her sales tax hike referred to the ballot, calls the special session for next week (have to have a referral done by the 9th or so to make a planned election date in December), and gets it with few, if any, Democratic votes.

Pinnacle West Her constituents *really* want the repeal of the state equalization property tax, and the Democrats have been insisting that is left alone as a condition of their support for her sales tax referral.

...According to one source, at least one chamber's Democrats will be holding a caucus meeting tomorrow. No word about the subject of the meeting, but given the events that have taken place/not taken place this week, I feel safe in guessing that item one on the agenda will be the BUDGET.

Yeah, I know that guess was a shock to all regular readers. :))

...More updates as they become available...