Capitol Briefings

ARIZONA'S FISCAL CHALLENGES

Supervisor Pete Rios
Secretary of State Ken Bennett

The Capitol Briefing on January 27th, exclusively for state legislators, put Arizona’s current fiscal challenges in perspective. The seminar provided an overview of Arizona general fund taxes and operating expenditures over the period from 1980 through the present based on new research completed for the Governing Arizona project. The briefing analyzed the impact of past decisions and what legislators could learn in making future public policy decisions. The briefing also allowed for a free and open discussion among legislators.

The 2010 Legislative Session presented big challenges to the members of the legislature. The State of Arizona faces unprecedented fiscal challenges. Over the last year, the State has been forced to revise and reduce authorized expenditures on multiple occasions as actual revenue collections have continued to fall farther and farther below forecast (budgeted) levels.

The session also provided opportunities for discussion among members. The presenter and moderator was Alan Maguire, President, the Maguire Company; Fiscal Advisor to Arizona Governors and Legislators, and Author of Governing Arizona Report: Understanding Arizona’s Fiscal History.

The continuing debate surrounding these ongoing budget revisions has occasioned much discussion of Arizona’s overall fiscal situation. Many of these discussions have focused on what should be done to address the current circumstances and many have proposed approaches to prevent the re-occurrence of such events in the future.

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Faculty

Alan Maguire

Alan Maguire is author of the Fiscal History of Arizona in the Governing Arizona Report. He is president of The Maguire Company, an independent, economic forecasting and public policy consulting firm and for three decades has been one of the leading experts on Arizona fiscal and governance issues. Prior to forming The Maguire Company, Maguire was a senior investment banker with a regional securities firm. During his tenure, he was the leading financial advisor in the State of Arizona and served as either senior manager or senior financial advisor on over $1 billion in tax-exempt financing.

From 1983 to 1987, Alan was the Chief Deputy in the Office of the State Treasurer where he had management responsibility for an annual cash flow of $6 billion and an income investment portfolio of more than $2 billion.

He previously served as the Economic Advisor to the State Senate, involved with legislation with impact on the municipal fiscal structure of state and local government in Arizona. Alan has served as an advisor to four Arizona Governors, four Arizona Senate Presidents, and two Arizona House Speakers.

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