Arizona ED Budget Update

Arizona's state economic development situation is not looking good. The budget passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month creates a new Department of Tourism and Economic Development. This is a merger of the Department of Commerce and state Office of Tourism. The combined agencies' budget is $12 million. That is significantly down from their current budgetary levels of $21 million. The combined economic agency also is geared more toward tourism than economic development.

The budget plan keeps Commerce's staffing levels at 83 full-time positions, but Yuhas said financial cuts will result in 60 to 70 layoffs. Having a skeleton crew will not allow Arizona to compete for big economic development projects, agency officials argue.

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