|
GOP
talks with Napolitano on English instruction fail
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published:
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/112196
PHOENIX — Republican legislative leaders pushed ahead Thursday with their own plan to fund English instruction as talks with Gov. Janet Napolitano broke down.
House Speaker Jim Weiers said some progress had been made in incorporating
some Democratic ideas into the GOP program. But he said there are some
"basic philosophical differences" that probably can't be resolved before
next week's deadline set by a federal judge, when he will begin imposing
$500,000-a-day fines on the state.
What appears to have derailed negotiations stems from Napolitano's veto
Wednesday of four bills sent to her by the Republican-controlled
Legislature. Weiers said the governor sat at the negotiating table Wednesday
afternoon and said no decision had been made about the fate of the bills. It
was only after House Majority Leader Steve Tully, R-Phoenix, got a pager
message that the bills had been vetoed that Napolitano acknowledged she had
signed the veto papers before the meeting.
|