GOP talks with Napolitano on English instruction fail
Capitol Media Services
 
Tucson, Arizona | Published: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/112196

PHOENIX — Republican legislative leaders pushed ahead Thursday with their own plan to fund English instruction as talks with Gov. Janet Napolitano broke down.

House Speaker Jim Weiers said some progress had been made in incorporating some Democratic ideas into the GOP program. But he said there are some "basic philosophical differences" that probably can't be resolved before next week's deadline set by a federal judge, when he will begin imposing $500,000-a-day fines on the state.
What appears to have derailed negotiations stems from Napolitano's veto Wednesday of four bills sent to her by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Weiers said the governor sat at the negotiating table Wednesday afternoon and said no decision had been made about the fate of the bills. It was only after House Majority Leader Steve Tully, R-Phoenix, got a pager message that the bills had been vetoed that Napolitano acknowledged she had signed the veto papers before the meeting.