How will Arizona handle this?
This just in- the coffers of the State of Arizona are empty and they’ll be paying in the form of IOUs.
“Over 60% of our state budget is locked down by those voter mandates,” State Representative Vic Williams told KOLD News, and those funds cannot be touched.
Legislators have been unable to resolve the budget crisis, leaving the state to pay with IOUs not only government employees but those that rely on the government like child care centers. Officials state they are working with banks in recognizing the IOUs, but that’s nothing more than a band-aid on a gaping wound.
What’s next for the State? Legislators will have to come together and agree on the way forward, taxes will probably have to go up despite the skyrocketing foreclosure market in pockets of the state, and budgets will have to be slashed (and managed better than they have been in the past).
Is Arizona the first in line to issue IOUs? Will other struggling states come up against voter mandated funds that drain the State’s bank account? How have they and how will others handle this situation as they come up against it? Despite the origination point of the problem, this crisis has a great impact on those that live in the State.
