GOP lawmakers blame Hobbs for slow Arizona budget talks. Democrats say they need projections 1st
The legislative session is about to enter its fourth month, but Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs still are not close to agreeing on a state budget.
Republican leaders at the Arizona Legislature accused Hobbs of delaying budget negotiations.
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) said they have been trying to hash out the budget with Hobbs for months, and they accused the governor’s office of repeatedly canceling meetings and stalling the process.
“Nothing has changed,” Toma said. “I can tell you that we’ve been ready for nearly two months now to have substantive conversations with the governor, and they keep asking for more time.”
The governor’s office declined to comment, but Senator Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) said lawmakers have had preliminary meetings with the governor’s staff.
Epstein said further talks should wait until lawmakers receive updated projections from legislative budget staff next month. The state is currently facing a large projected budget deficit, but budget analysts with the governor’s office and legislature have disagreed on the severity of that shortfall.
“To be honest, we really need to know where we are in terms of revenue, and the April 11 [Finance Advisory Committee] meeting is critical to that,” Epstein said.
She also criticized Republican lawmakers' recent votes limiting the renewal of certain state agencies to two years.
State government agencies, like the Department of Health Services or the Department of Economic Security, are typically audited every eight to 10 years as part of a sunset review. But, this session, Republicans have opted for shorter renewals for agencies they say need more oversight, drawing the ire of Democrats who say GOP lawmakers are weaponizing the Legislature to undermine Hobbs’ administration.
“We can’t plan a budget if we don’t know what our agencies are going to be,” Epstein said.
But Republicans said it is Hobbs who is handcuffing negotiations.
“My goal was progress with her, meet with my caucus, progress with her, meet with my caucus,” Petersen said. “We’ve had a little bit of that, but they’ve been canceling meetings, quite frankly.”
The House and Senate are currently working their way through the non-budget bills that remain before those chambers after lawmakers wrapped up most committee meetings last week.
If they make it through those bills before sitting down again with Hobbs’ staff, Petersen said he could send senators home in April until he has new budget information to discuss with his caucus.
“Maybe a week at a time or whatever it takes to have progress with her, meet with our caucus, have progress with her, meet with our caucus,” Petersen said. “I’ve been trying to do that since December.”
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