The speaker of the Arizona House stripped two committee chairmen of their posts and threatened to resign Tuesday as she struggled for control of her rebellious Republican caucus. Speaker Jane Hull stripped Reps. Don Aldridge and Jim Skelly of their chairmanships, of the Public Institutions and Rural Development and House Judiciary committees, respectively, for voting against her. Mrs. Hull has clashed with conservative Republicans over a proposal to freeze the state's property tax rate and to pass along an income tax windfall to taxpayers. The proposal was offered by fellow Republican Margaret Updike, who said she wanted to ensure the Legislature didn't use the $170 million windfall or a property tax hike to balance a deficit budget. Majority Whip Chris Herstam tried to kill the proposal on a procedural motion. Ten Republicans joined Democrats in voting against him. But after Mrs. Hull threatened to replace any chairman who voted against Herstam, all Republicans except Aldridge and Skelly fell into line, giving Herstam a 32-25 margin. Rep. Brenda Burns sent Mrs. Hull a note during the debate, saying the conservatives would back down if she promised to allow a vote on Ms. Updike's proposal later. But Mrs. Hull refused to promise and tore up the note on the floor. She challenged the conservatives to try to remove her as speaker, and said she might resign. Later, after a three-hour closed caucus, Mrs. Hull said she had come ``pretty darned close'' to resigning, but decided against it ``because we were able to sit and rationally discuss the budget.'' House and Senate leaders have been trying for two weeks to drum up votes for a bipartisan budget and tax package, but conservative Republicans and a few Democrats in each chamber have balked. There has been talk of passing the $3.5 billion budget, which includes a deficit of about $400 million, without a tax package to fund it. Without specific legislation to the contrary, the windfall _ which has been passed on to taxpayers in past years _ would revert to the state, and the property-tax rate would be increased from its current 47 cents-per-$100 assessed valuation to whatever level would cover the deficit. Skelly, a 20-year veteran of the Legislature, is not seeking re-election and said losing his committee chairmanship was not significant because the session is almost over and no more committee meetings were scheduled. Aldridge said he was unwilling to give in to save his chairmanship. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Mark Killian, a leader of the conservative faction, said the conservatives still opposed the budget but recognized they could not block its passage. ``Some of us went and talked to the speaker and kind of put up the white flag,'' he said. ``There's another day and another war. Maybe we can do better next year.''
