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Budget Tax Cuts Move Forward In Arizona Legislature

The $11.8 billion state budget cleared its first hurdles Wednesday as the package of spending and tax cuts was approved by a pair of legislative panels.

Democrats failed in their bid to fully restore money to an account school districts can use for books, computers and buses. The approved plan adds $130 million, but GOP leadership said the promised $203 million will have to wait.

Rep. Aaron Lieberman, D-Phoenix, said the priorities need to shift.

"We easily could restore all of the district additional assistance if we're willing to put our schools first and invest in the students and before we get into these risky tax offsets," he said.

The plan is not expected to gain much — if any — Democratic support. However it did win over one Republican holdout: Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who has been opposed to a $32 vehicle registration fee.

The current proposal would phase-out that fee by 2021.

The plan still doesn’t have full Republican support, and the deadline to pass a budget is July 1.

Howard Fischer with Capitol Media Services joined The Show to talk about the details.

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Claire Caulfield was a reporter and Morning Edition producer at KJZZ from 2015 to 2019.