Sheer devastation.
That's what would happen if a proposed 15 percent state budget cut across-the-board goes through in Arizona.
Drug cartels run wild. Motorists stranded on dark lonely roads. Thousands of prisoners wandering the streets. Thousands of workers laid off. Parks and rest areas closed. Road work grinding to a halt.
To read the dire predictions of agency heads in Arizona, it's as if all hell will break loose.
Really?
See if this makes sense to you.
A couple of weeks ago, the Department of Corrections released its report saying a 15 percent cut would force the agency to close 15 prison units and release 13,000 inmates.
That was followed by a report from Department of Public Safety director Roger Vanderpool, predicting a 15 percent cut would force the department to lay off 25 percent of its workforce, leaving Arizona as "open territory" for drug cartels and general hooligans. Motorists would be "on their own" if their car breaks down in a remote area of the state.
The Department of Health Services has proposed raising daycare licensing fees from a flat $150 to as much as 13 thousand dollars to cover budget cuts, making Arizona the most expensive licensing state in the west, and likely forcing many daycare centers to close or raise rates for parents.
Then there was ADOT. Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski says a 15 percent cut would lead to a 60 percent reduction in ADOT's workforce. All road maintenance, except for "emergency" maintenance would stop. All rest areas would close. All "but a few" MVD offices would close. All inspection stations, except for the one at the Mexico border, would close.
Really? A 15 percent cut leads to all that? Heaven forbid a 20 or 30 percent cut. We may as well burn the state capitol down and let everybody start packing heat for the lawlessness which would ensue.
But c'mon guys, the math doesn't add up. ADOT's report makes it sound as if the entire agency would shut down. And how does a 15 percent cut lead to a 60 percent reduction in the workforce -- especially when you're shutting down everything else too?
We know what's happening here. We know agencies are making the most dire predictions as a scare tactic. We know most are holding out hope the legislature will give in to an increase in the state sales tax.
We know there are other ways to cut the budget without turning Arizona into a piratic wasteland. There's scarcely a mention of pay cuts, furloughs or reductions in benefits which would save jobs and services.
And they know it too: the lawmakers and the department directors who continue to trade barbs and wildly exaggerated claims and generally refuse to actually solve the problem.
