Governor Jan Brewer has come under renewed criticism with the death of yet another Arizonian awaiting a transplant (funding for which was denied because of budget cuts) . Think Progress has the details of the passing of Mark Price, an Arizona father who had been battling leukemia for a year.
Via FoxPhoenix:
Brewer has been taking a lot of heat over the death of another transplant patient, and Friday, she addressed the criticism.
"I said from the beginning of my term that we were going to hit this big cliff and that it was going to be disastrous. And it's heartbreaking. But the fact of the matter is those decisions will have to be made."
She spoke to business leaders at a luncheon in downtown Phoenix. No matter where she goes, she is faced with questions about transplant funding.
"I believe that the media has blown that totally completely out of proportion. It's an unfortunate thing that people have passed away, that the two people that have died, but I do believe that it wasn't because of the funding at this particular time," she says.
State Senator-Elect Kyrsten Sinema was also at the same luncheon. An outspoken opponent of the funding cuts, Sinema says she has a plan to restore funding, which she will present to the Senate on Monday.
"When this was cut in the state budget, many of us, myself included, stood up and said, people will die. And I think a lot of folks thought we were being dramatic," says Sinema.
"Two Arizonans have already died. If there's any time we need to put aside partisan rhetoric and find a bi-partisan solution -- now's the time."
