Governor Jan Brewer took over the Chief Executive’s office nearly 18 months ago and for much of the first part of her tenure the issue dominating state politics was the budget. That issue is certainly still something being talked about but now the top topic is immigration. The Governor says when she signed Senate Bill 1070 she did expect some reaction, but nothing like the state has seen in the last few months. She also says she still believes that SB 1070 is the right way to handle things. Governor Brewer recently sat down with President Obama to talk about immigration. She says the real take away from that meeting was a promise that the majority of the National Guard troops being sent to the Southern border will in fact be stationed in Arizona. The Governor also said until the border is secured, she told the President that Arizona is not interested in comprehensive immigration reform
Even though immigration is the topic of the day, the budget is still a major issue in Arizona. Governor Brewer championed the now voter approved increase in the state sales tax . She says it will get Arizona through the tough times for the next three years. Though, she does admit that some tweaking of the budget may need to be done when lawmakers reconvene in January. The Governor says one thing she does worry about draining the budget is the federal health care legislation. She says she told the President about her concerns but she didn’t get many answers.
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