After a week of delays, state lawmakers are finally expected to start voting on the budget Tuesday morning.
The original plan proffered by Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican legislative leaders ran into resistance, much over the fact that it actually cut funding for public schools.
Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, said there are promises to remove all those cuts. Only thing is, as of late Monday she had not seen the actual language guaranteeing that no school will end up worse off.
"And if that language represents the conceptual agreement related to K-12 education, I believe we can move forward," Carter said.
The package does have new money for some programs, ranging from Child Protective Services and the governor's new Border Security Strike Force to widening Interstate 10 near Picacho in Pinal County.
But not everyone is enthusiastic about new spending. Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Tucson, said the state balanced its books for years through accounting gimmicks, like pushing one year's expenses into the following year. Finchem said no individual would try to get away with that-- "At the end of the month, if I don't have enough money to pay something, I don't post-date the check and say, 'I'm going to mail this to you, just don't cash this check until next Friday.'"
The debate on the $9.58 billion spending plan is likely to take all day.