On Friday, the hairdresser-turned-governor Jan Brewer decided to take a little off the top of the budget transmitted to her by the Legislature. While ensuring that her pet projects received adequate funding, Brewer cut right to the heart of the people’s only dedicated representative; the state’s ombudsman.
The state Ombudsman, otherwise known as the Citizens’ Aide, assists citizen who feel that they have been treated unfairly by a government agency. Residents who find themselves in a disagreement or dispute with a state agency, department, board or commission, or have disputes with local government agencies regarding public access laws, can turn to the Ombudsman for assistance.
After it was revealed this year that under Brewer’s administration, thousands of reports about child abuse and neglect were ignored by Child Protective Services, Brewer has ordered the creation of a new department rather than reform CPS.
“A new agency must have the resources it needs to succeed in its core mission to safeguard Arizona’s abused and neglected children,” Brewer said her statements to Seante president Andy Biggs. “I have line-item vetoed certain appropriations in the budget in order to maintain a fiscally prudent spending plan and preserve crucial resources for our reform efforts. Child safety is a core focus, and our state budget must reflect that.”
House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, according to the Arizona Republic “said he didn’t consider Brewer’s cuts substantial.”
“The governor did a light trim to the budget,” he told the Arizona Republic.
Contrary to Kavanagh’s assessment, Brewer scalped the Citizens’ Aide. Brewer “eliminated the entire $828,500 budget for the state ombudsman, according to the Arizona Republic.
The Republic noted that the ombudsman’s office investigates allegations involving state agencies, including CPS.
Brewer spokesman Andrew Wilder told the Arizona Republic the her intent was not to end the agency But because she could not target the $200,000 lawmakers added to that office to handle complaints CPS, she vetoed the entire ombudsman budget.
She held the ombudsman office funding hostage. Brewer wrote to legislators, “In the upcoming special session on child safety, we can revisit the scope of funding for the Ombudsman-aide office.”