Ariz. Gov Said To Back Possible Campaign On Budget

PAUL DAVENPORT

PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Jan Brewer favors a $225,000 campaign being considered by a business group to encourage Arizona legislators who have proved reluctant to back her budget approach, a Brewer spokesman said.

A strategy memo prepared by political consultants for the group, Building a Better Arizona 2012, calls for using radio ads, automated phone calls and other campaign tools "to create a concentrated and sustained effort to encourage legislative support for a balanced budget approach."

The memo was prepared by High Ground Inc., a firm whose members include several with long-standing political ties to Brewer.

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said Thursday such a campaign would be "a natural extension" of the governor's efforts to win legislative approval for her budget approach. That approach includes a temporary tax increase to balance the budget, along with spending cuts and use of federal stimulus dollars.

Senseman noted that Brewer has traveled around the state to plug her budget approach.

However, it's almost June "and there's yet to be a GOP plan that is a comprehensive and long-term balanced budget so, yes, she is considering a pretty aggressive outreach effort that would be in support of a comprehensive solution of a balanced budget," Senseman said.