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- Creators: Battelle Memorial Institute. Technology Partnership Practice
- Creators: Iverson, Peter
- Creators: Brookings Mountain West
A landmark assessment of infrastructure needs in Arizona was produced by the L. William Seidman Research Institute in May 2008 for the Arizona Investment Council (AIC): "Infrastructure Needs and Funding Alternatives for Arizona: 2008-2032", that addressed infrastructure needs in four categories: energy, telecommunications, transportation, and water and wastewater. The information from the AIC report is a major input to the report that follows. Other types of infrastructure — most notably education, health care, and public safety — also are analyzed here to provide a more complete picture of infrastructure needs in Arizona. The goals of this report are to place Arizona’s infrastructure needs into national and historical contexts, to identify the changing conditions in infrastructure provision that make building Arizona’s infrastructure in the future a more problematic proposition than in the past, and to provide projections of the possible costs of providing infrastructure in Arizona over the next quarter century.
In this interview, Zah and Iverson discuss various political, economic, and controversial topics. Zah gives his impressions and thoughts about the Hopi government, including the struggle in trying to find the balance between traditional and progressive ideals. Zah also reflects on his positive relationship with Hopi chairman Ivan Sidney. The changes in Navajo politics, the Tribal Council, and chapter relationships are addressed, especially the 2010 vote for the reduction of the number of Council delegates from 88 to 24. Zah gives his overall assessment of the role of casino gaming in the Navajo economy. He goes into detail about the main issues that concerned and delayed the Navajo Nation in creating casinos. Zah lastly focuses on the Indian Civil Rights Act and the controversial confrontation that took place between Annie Wauneka and Ted Mitchell, which ultimately changed the ongoing leadership of DNA People’s Legal Services.
In this interview, Peterson Zah discusses various trust funds and how the settlement from a 1980’s court case against the Navajo Nation paved the way for greater growth and opportunity. Zah highlights key points in the taxation case, how the settlement money was used, and the issues that arose in trying to allot the funds in a fair way that appeased the whole Navajo community. Some of the trust funds that benefitted from the settlement were the Nation Building Fund, the Navajo Tribal Scholarship program, and the Land Acquisition Fund. Zah goes into detail about the permanent fund, briefly discusses methods of income, such as casinos, and creates a dialog about economic conditions on the reservation. Also brought up in the interview are the changing social conditions of the Navajo, especially as more people move off the reservation. The Navajo lifestyle is also changing, and Zah gives examples of these changes and explains what is creating the change.
Though the Great Recession may be officially over, all is not well in Arizona. Three years after the collapse of a massive real estate “bubble,” the deepest economic downturn in memory exposed and exacerbated one of the nation’s most profound state fiscal crises, with disturbing implications for Arizona citizens and the state’s long-term economic health.
This brief takes a careful look at the Grand Canyon State’s fiscal situation, examining both Arizona’s serious cyclical budget shortfall—the one resulting from a temporary collapse of revenue due to the recession—as well as the chronic, longer-term, and massive structural imbalances that have developed largely due to policy choices made in better times. This primer employs a unique methodology to estimate the size of the state’s structural deficit and then explores the mix of forces, including the large permanent tax reductions, that created them. It also highlights some of the dramatic impacts these fiscal challenges are having on service-delivery as well as on local governments. The brief suggests some of the steps state policymakers must take to close their budget gaps over the short and longer term. First, it urges better policymaking, and prods leaders to broaden, balance, and diversify the state’s revenue base while looking to assure a long-haul balance of taxing and spending. And second, it recommends that Arizona improve the information-sharing and budgeting processes through which fiscal problems are understood—so they may ultimately be averted.
An update to the January 2014 community assessment of Tempe by its Police and Fire Departments, reviewing current and planned developments in Tempe and on the ASU Tempe campus that affect public safety needs and response.
A community assessment of Tempe by its Police and Fire Departments, to identify significant trends in population demographics and economic development, as well as growth of Arizona State University. These trends are analyzed so that more informed decisions on public safety staffing needs can be made.