DALLAS — Gov. Jan Brewer urged lawmakers to draft a bill to buy back the Arizona capitol for the state’s 100th birthday, but the centennial passed on Tuesday with no sign that lawmakers were ready to pay off the $106 million debt.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Senate President Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, told reporters. “It’ll happen some year.”
In 2010, the state raised nearly $750 million for the general fund by issuing lease-revenue certificates of participation for state buildings, including the capitol complex. The extreme measure was prompted by dramatically falling revenues accompanied by deep cuts in education and other health programs.
At the same time, the state leveraged its lottery revenues and, at Brewer’s urging, passed a three-year sales tax increase of 1 cent that expires in 2013. The tax hike required voter approval.
In her state of the state address in January, Brewer asked lawmakers to pass a bill that would pay off the debt on the capitol complex in 2019, which would be 10 years ahead of the existing schedule.
While the revenue stream has improved in the past year, lawmakers warn that finances are still tight. Minority House Democrats want to spend available funds on programs that were cut in recent years, such as health coverage for children of low-income families, teacher salaries, and job training.
Republicans are concerned about what will happen when the temporary sales tax expires in May 2013 and federal health care mandates take effect in fiscal 2015.
The Legislature and the governor have not agreed on how much money is available as they work on the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Brewer’s spokesman Matthew Benson said, “The governor continues to support buying back the Capitol. And she believes that it is fiscally smart and symbolically important for the people of Arizona to own their Capitol.”
While the state has not been able to buy back the building, the capitol did get a shiny new copper dome in time for the centennial celebrations. Insurance covered installation of the dome that replaced the previous one that was damaged by a 2010 hailstorm. While the dome is copper to represent one of Arizona’s major resources, the new metal actually came from a mine in Pennsylvania, state officials said.
