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Gov. Has Days To Examine 200+ Bills

POSTED: 9:27 pm MST July 8, 2009
UPDATED: 8:23 am MST July 9, 2009

Gov. Jan Brewer and her staff are working overtime to make decisions about more than 200 pieces of proposed legislation.

Lawmakers gave her little time to review their proposals this year.

“All of these 200 bills arrived after July 1,” Brewer’s spokesman Paul Senseman said Wednesday.

According to the Arizona constitution, the governor has 10 days, with the exception of Sunday, after the end of the legislative session to sign or veto every bills submitted to her.

This year, that means she must decide on each bill by midnight on Monday, July 13.

“It is a recipe for disaster,” Rep. David Lujan said. "You're not going to be able to do the proper review that you normally would when you have that many bills coming at you all at once.”

Lujan said there are dangerous consequences to giving the governor little time to vet legislation.

In 2000, a bill to reimburse drivers for installing alternative fuel tanks in their vehicles was rushed through the legislature.

Lujan said the state shelled out close to $200 million before a special session was called to correct loopholes in the legislation.

"We believe we're prepared to deal with these bills effectively,” Senseman said.

He said the governor and her staff are carefully combing through the bills and are keeping a close eye out for any mistakes in them that could cost taxpayers.

Usually, legislators begins sending the governor bills in March.

This year, Senate President Bob Burns decided to delay hearings on other bills in order to prioritize balancing the state’s budget.

Arizona still does not have a budget.

After going through the proposed laws, Brewer still have to find a way to close a close to $2 billion shortfall in the budget.

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