PHOENIX (By Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic) October 11, 2009  — It's the legal equivalent of a holdup: A demand from the state Legislature to hand over money from various state funds to balance the state budget. While there's no physical threat involved, operators of programs ranging from Superfund cleanup efforts to motorcycle safety feel robbed.

To help dig out of the $3 billion deficit in the 2010 budget, lawmakers relied on the well-worn tactic of sweeping dollars from agency funds. This year, they did it to the tune of nearly $228 million.

They're not reclaiming general taxpayer dollars, but, rather, dollars paid by specific interests for specific programs.
For example, people who buy gasoline pay an 18-cent gas tax that feeds the state highway fund. Members of various medical professions pay annual licensing fees to cover the cost of regulation. Motorcycle owners kick in an extra dollar on their registration to pay for a motorcycle-safety program. A portion of the corporate-income tax is dedicated to cleaning up the state's biggest polluted sites.

But the Legislature took a big bite out of those dedicated funds while crafting the budget.

One of the biggest came from the Arizona Department of Transportation, which saw $28 million swept from the highway fund, meaning a slowdown in freeway projects.

"We know the word 'dedicated' is sort of a joke," said Bobbi Hartmann, who lobbies for ABATE of Arizona, a motorcycle-rights organization.

Many groups are resigned to the sweeps, but not all.

Eight medical associations sued the state earlier this year, complaining about two successive rounds of fund sweeps to medical-regulatory boards. That money helped balance the fiscal 2008 and 2009 budgets. The case is still in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Although the Legislature didn't sweep the boards this year, the medical associations want to ensure that it's not a one-time exemption.

"On a going-forward basis, we want it (stated) that these funds are sacrosanct," said Kevin Earle, executive director of the Arizona Dental Association. "They should be in a lockbox."

Here's a look at the effect of sweeps on a sampling of programs:

State recycling fund

All the money in this fund $2.8 million, was swept to balance the budget. Individuals and businesses that dump trash in landfills pay a 25-cent-per-ton fee, and the money is used to promote recycling programs with the goal of reducing the strain on landfills. Instead, it's gone to reduce the strain on the state budget.

With the fund wiped clean, the state Department of Environmental Quality is turning to federal dollars, money from the solid-waste fund and help from the private sector to promote a scaled-down program, agency officials say.

Motorcycle-safety fund

Lawmakers swept $100,000 from this fund, which is fed by a voluntary $1 fee tacked onto motorcycle registrations. It doesn't wipe out the fund, but it crushes any effort to do a statewide media campaign promoting motorcycle awareness and safety, Hartmann said.

Instead, the volunteers who work with the fund will focus on lower-cost programs, such as their outreach program at high schools. The fund provides the money for key chains and brochures that volunteers distribute during these visits, Hartmann said.

Meanwhile, Hartmann and other supporters will continue to research ways to protect against future sweeps. A lawsuit wasn't a good solution, she said, noting that various agriculture groups sued over a sweep from two years ago. They won in court but didn't get their money back.

State Board of Chiropractic Examiners

After a sweep of $167,000 last year, this regulatory board got some money back in the fiscal 2010 budget.

It needed it: The board was on the brink of insolvency, and the $148,000 in restored funding is enough to tide the agency through the end of the fiscal year in June, said Dr. Dianne Haydon, the board's chairperson.

The agency cut back on travel, legal services and consultants.

State Superfund

The Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund is Arizona's equivalent of the federal Superfund. It cleans up the state's largest contamination spots, dealing with polluted groundwater and soil at 35 sites.

For now, with its $13 million budget cut nearly in half, the program will focus on 14 sites, said Patrick Cunningham, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Twelve treatment plants will continue extracting soil and water pollution, he said.

But an effort to clean up mine tailings along the banks of the Gila River near the south-central Arizona town of Klondyke didn't make the cut.

Even in good times, the fund has been tapped to balance out other state programs. The effect: slower cleanup work, which, over time, can add up to more cost if pollution plumes in groundwater spread.