Governor Jan Brewer’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes new money for Child Protective Services, Medicaid expansion and implementing new education standards. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports.

MARK BRODIE: The governor wants to hire fifty new CPS caseworkers now, and 150 more soon. The total cost would be more than $20 million. The plan released Friday also includes more than $60 million to help implement the Common Core standards for math and English in K-12 schools. That cash would go towards professional development, and technology to help measure performance, among other things. John Arnold is the governor’s budget director.

JOHN ARNOLD: We see this budget with really three key pillars: child safety, performance K-12 funding and Medicaid expansion. They’re all very important, and I think, transformational issues for the state.

BRODIE: In addition, the proposal sets up new performance funding for schools, and sets aside money to hire about 100 new school resource officers. The $8.9 billion spending plan needs approval from the state legislature. The new fiscal year starts on July first.