Republican lawmakers in the Arizona House on June 7 tried and failed to push through a budget with only GOP votes. Although Republican legislative leadership and Gov. Doug Ducey struck a deal on a budget package last month, Republicans hold one-seat majorities in both the state House and Senate; that means one holdout Republican can kill a budget.
That’s exactly what happened June 7, when GOP Rep. David Cook balked at Ducey’s flat income tax cut plan as unsustainable.
Lawmakers are expected back at the Capitol on June 10, but it’s unclear if anything has changed on the budget. Meanwhile, the end of the fiscal year is looming at the end of the month.
To learn what it would take for Democrats to support the budget, The Show spoke with state Sen. Rebecca Rios, the Senate minority leader.