The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the educational achievement and attainment of Latinos living in Arizona. In short, the educational performance and attainment of Hispanics lags considerably behind that of the state’s non-Hispanic white residents. Moreover, the growth in the number of Hispanics, especially children, has far outpaced that of the non-Hispanic white population, raising the importance of this educational gap. This issue was highlighted in the 2001 Morrison Institute report Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona’s Future.

The specific goal of this report is to assess the future of Hispanic educational performance and attainment in Arizona, but this outlook is dependent to a very sizable extent on the characteristics of the Hispanics living in Arizona. In particular, the educational achievement and attainment of Hispanic immigrants has been substantially less than that of Hispanics born in the United States. Forecasting Hispanic immigration specifically and the characteristics of the Hispanic population generally is extremely difficult for two reasons: severe data limitations, and recent legal and policy changes related to immigration.

The purpose of the stabilization fund is to reduce the fluctuations in general fund revenue caused by the economic cycle. These fluctuations result in large budget surpluses in some years and large deficits in other years. Without considering the structural deficit, the budget stabilization fund almost certainly will not have the funding necessary to offset the cyclical reduction in revenue that will occur during the next recession.

This is a summary of several reports related to government finance in Arizona that have been produced by the Office of the University Economist since December 2008. Some new information has been added in an attempt to provide a complete picture. The format of this report is a brief summary by issue, sometimes accompanied by a table or chart. References are provided to the report and the page number where additional detail can be found.

The determination of the number of businesses operating in Arizona is not a straightforward proposition due to data deficiencies and definitional issues. The best data — from the U.S. Census Bureau — are more than two years old. The Census Bureau data are divided into two series: businesses with employees and nonemployer businesses. Each series is based on administrative records. While neither series is affected by sampling error, both are subject to nonsampling error. Certain industries are excluded from each series.

Assaults within correctional facilities can cause major problems. Assaults can disrupt the operation of correctional programming efforts and create an environment of fear and intimidation. They can result in serious injuries requiring transportation of staff or juveniles to a hospital. The purpose of this report is to 1) provide the Director and the committee with background data on assaults within ADJC, 2) provide the Director and the committee with an overview of requirements contained in the existing ADJC procedure(s) and information on how some ADJC staff report they are complying with those requirements, and 3) provide the Director and committee with background on three recommendations designed to address the assault dilemma within ADJC.

On October 13, 2000 the Research and Development Section submitted a report entitled Commitments/Releases from ADJC Secure Custody by Race to the Minority Over Representation Group. At the June 20, 2002 Group meeting a request was made to update certain items of interest contained in the original report. This updated report includes the items of interest specified by the Group and it provides a simple yet dynamic picture of this important issue by displaying data for 2000, 2001 and 2002.

According to official reports, juvenile crime in Arizona has declined. In fact, the number of juvenile arrests has declined by 27.5%, and the percentage of crimes cleared by the arrest of a juvenile has also declined. The decline in juvenile crime was greater in Arizona than it was nationally, or in other western states. Director Michael Branham asked the Research and Development Division to examine the decline and research why it has occurred. In addition, Representative John Huppenthal of the Arizona House of
Representatives and Mr. Richard Stavneak, of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee requested research on how charter school enrollments may have contributed to the decline. The purpose of this report is to present the results of a study designed to gain a better understanding of the recent decline in Arizona juvenile crime.