PHOENIX-State lawmakers gave final approval Thursday night to their plan to balance the budget. But they won’t be sending it to Gov. Jan Brewer  at least not yet.

The House action Thursday evening came without a single Democrat in support, just as the vote earlier in the day in the Senate.

But Senate President Bob Burns acknowledged the plan at least in its current form, is unacceptable to Brewer. So, at least for the time being, Burns wants to use the package of spending cuts, fund raids, use of stimulus dollars and borrowing as a starting point for a new round of talks with the governor  talks he hopes eventually will convince Brewer to give up her demand that lawmakers approve a temporary tax hike or face a veto.

Brewer, however, told Capitol Media Services she doesn’t understand what Burns wants to do.

“I’ve been at the table four months now to try to come up with a balanced budget,’’ she said. And Brewer chided the GOP leaders for the way they’ve handled the process so far.

“I don’t really know what they’ve got in their budget,’’ she continued. “They never shared that with me,’’ saying she only gets “bits and pieces.’’

And the governor pronounced herself stumped by the decision not to send her the alreadyapproved plan. “I’ve never seen a game plan like that since I’ve been an elected official,’’ she said.

The package contains more than $630 million in spending cuts designed to bridge what GOP legislative leaders say is a $3 billion gap  Brewer puts it at $4 billion  between revenues and expenses this coming year. That includes a controversial and potentially illegal move to keep basic state aid to schools at current levels rather than following a statutory formula which the Attorney General’s Office says is mandatory.

Another $1.1 billion would come from federal stimulus dollars.

Much of the rest of the plan is be filled with changes in state policies proponents argue will save money.

What it does not include, though, is that temporary oncecent hike in the sales tax rate Brewer demands instead of deep spending cuts. In fact, the GOP plan even permanently repeals the currently suspended state property tax, a levy Brewer wants to bring back, at least briefly.

Brewer also is unhappy with some other tactics used to balance the budget.

One results in less funding to state universities. Brewer’s problem here, though, is she believes the change violates a requirement for the state to maintain funding for universities at current levels, endangering more than $1 billion in federal stimulus aid.

Another would force cities and counties to give some of their share of state vehicle license tax proceeds to schools. That, in turn, would reduce the state’s financial obligation to schools by $95 million.

She also questions another provision which, at least on paper, is designed to get the state some immediate cash. It is based on the premise private companies would pay $100 million up front for the right to run state prisons  and get paid by the state for housing inmates  for the next 50 years.

“It doesn’t work,’’ Senseman said. He said while some firms operate their own private prisons, no company has been willing to pay money up front to take over operations of a stateowned facility.

And the governor is not supporting a potentially illegal provision to limit state aid to schools.

Details aside, Brewer said there’s another problem with the legislative budget package.

“I believe it is probably not balanced,’’ she said.

Brewer’s own plan, unveiled earlier this week, takes care of not only the anticipated deficit this coming fiscal year but also the fact that it appears the state will end this current budget year on June 30 about $200 million in the red. The legislative package, however, deals only with next year’s finances and essentially ignores the fact that lawmakers will start out $200 million in the hole.