PHOENIX (AP)- Republican legislative leaders floated their latest budget proposal to fellow lawmakers Tuesday, finding support, skepticism and disagreement en route to a possible collision with Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano over tax cuts, education spending and other issues.
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``We look forward to sitting down with her in good-faith negotiations,'' Bennett said.
Key elements, an outgrowth of competing budget plans approved recently by the Republican-led House and Senate, could put them at odds with Napolitano.
The 10 percent state income tax cut is one of two centerpieces of a tax package that also includes elimination of a property tax, the so-called county equalization rate, which the state makes counties impose to help pay for public schools.
The one-year tax package largely resembles the Senate plan. The House version was based on nearly the same amount of cuts but over two years.
On taxes, Napolitano originally proposed a $100 million array of small, targeted tax cuts while criticizing proposals for broader tax relief as possible endangering the state's long-term fiscal position. More recently, she offered to compromise on a 5 percent income tax cut augmented by a one-time rebate of up to $100 per tax return and expansion of an existing property tax break for seniors.
Republican Sen. Dean Martin, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, said Napolitano's willingness to compromise means the tax proposal isn't necessarily dead on arrival with Napolitano. ``Is the governor going to like this? I don't think so,'' he added.
Bennett said the Republicans leaders would consider ``gives and takes'' in their talks with Napolitano but that considering the state's fiscal health, the $500 million tax-cut ``right now ... is the least that we ought to be doing for Arizona taxpayers.''
A Napolitano spokeswoman declined comment, saying she had not yet seen the proposal.
However, the Senate's top Democrat, Sen. Linda Aguirre of Phoenix, predicted Napolitano would balk at the GOP approach taken in providing K-12 schools with a $125 million boost.
The $125 million, which goes beyond new dollars provided K-12 schools for enrollment growth and inflation, would not be designated for any particular purpose. Also, $38 million currently provided for all-day kindergarten would similarly be added to general per-student funding.
The proposed $125 million increase falls well short of Napolitano's proposal for $90 million for teacher pay and retirement and an additional $105 million to dramatically increase statewide funding for all-day kindergarten, a Napolitano priority.
Though districts would not have to spend the additional $125 million of new money on all-day kindergarten, it satisfies a 2004 budget law's mandate that lawmakers phase in all-day kindergarten within five years, Bennett said.
``We left it to the districts whether they want to use it to fund all-day (kindergarten) or whether they want to use to fund teacher salaries,'' added Bennett.
The Senate had proposed earmarking some new dollars to expand state funding for all-day kindergarten and other new dollars to offset increased teacher retirement costs to protect teachers' paychecks. The House earmarked money for teacher retirement costs but left it up to districts to decide how to spend additional dollars.
Aguirre, a champion of all-day kindergarten, said the Republican approach puts all-day kindergarten at risk even in districts that currently get state funding, partly because the existing funding would be shared with high school districts that don't provide kindergarten. ``If there was an attempt to disband the whole all-day kindergarten concept, it accomplishes that,'' she said.
Martin said he considered the leaders' K-12 funding approach an attempt to provide districts with more flexibility. Those that really want all-day kindergarten can have it while others that use the additional money for other priorities.
``Giving more local control over how they use the dollars was the overriding purpose,'' Martin said.
Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale, said she was troubled by the concept of lumping the additional school dollars in one pot with designating how it'd be used and that she would consult school district officials and parent activists for their input.
The higher education proposal would provide $20 million to the three universities, dividing the money by enrollment. That would give the lion's share to Arizona State University, which has the biggest enrollment and which has made funding for expansion of its ASU Polytechnic campus in Mesa a priority.
The Bennett-Weiers proposal does not include additional money _ beyond the $20 million _ which the Senate sought to provide the universities, the budget papers stated.
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