KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the biggest stories of the week from Arizona and beyond.
To talk about the state’s final budget deal, the continuing controversy over money earmarked for helping treat opioid addiction and more, The Show sat down with Matthew Benson of Veridus — who served in the administration of Gov. Jan Brewer — and former state lawmaker Jennifer Longdon.
Conversation highlights
On the battle over opioid funds
MARK BRODIE: So Matt, let me start with you. The, a judge in Maricopa County has decided that Attorney General Kris Mayes does not have to give a bunch of money, from the opioid settlement to backfill money, as she is calling it, to the state Department of Corrections. This seems like it's going to be a pretty protracted fight and could potentially be a big issue if, like in terms of having a balanced budget, if this money doesn't end up getting transferred.
MATTHEW BENSON: There's no question. We're talking about $115 million that the state budget calls to be transferred from this, this national opioid settlement from the AG's office into the general fund basically to, as you put it, to help balance the budget. Now, look, I mean, legislators and the governor's office say this money is intended to be used to help deal with opioid issues in the state prison system, of which there are many issues there of course. And the AG has, you know, countered that this would violate the terms of that settlement.
I think, first off, in terms of the budget, it sets up real questions in terms of, if, if this money is not allowed to transfer, then potentially you're going to have to, you're going to have to cut $115 million somewhere else to balance the budget. But secondarily, I just think this is a fascinating, one more aspect of this budding rivalry between the state's Democratic governor and Democratic attorney general.
BRODIE: Yeah, Jen, it is interesting. I mean, and, and Kris Mayes was very clear early on, once the budget documents were, were leaked/released, that this was not going to fly with her, that this money, in her mind, is, would be illegally transferred. It's not what the money is, it was set up for. It could, as she said, jeopardize future payments from the settlement to Arizona. And she really lobbied pretty hard to get this taken out of the budget. In the end, she, she wasn't successful there.
JENNIFER LONGDON: Right. I think that, you know, at the top, it said something about this money is, is going to help protect vulnerable people inside our prison population. And I believe that's what that money's there to do. I did go read at least that part … and, you know, I believe that the money will be appropriately spent on substance use disorders, opioid addiction within our prison system. And for those, you know, coming out, reentry. and I think it's a great way to spend that money.
BRODIE: So what do you think led to this remaining in the budget after the lobbying effort from Attorney General Mayes? I mean, there are other funds, presumably, that could have been swept or other cuts that could have been made. Why do you think lawmakers and Governor Hobbs decided to stick with this one?
LONGDON: Well, I think it's really hard to do a deficit budget, and they had to make a lot of cuts and a lot of places, you know, more than $1 billion had to be cut out of the budget. And a lot of tough decisions had to be made. I think that they took a look at this and saw that they can take this money and use it inside our prison population to work on opioid issues. It sounds like the right thing to do.
Who supported, opposed state budget
BRODIE: Matt, I want to ask you about opposition. There's bipartisan support, bipartisan opposition to this budget. And I want to put you back in the Wayback Machine to when you were a reporter with the Arizona Republic during the last time we had divided government, when Janet Napolitano was governor. … I wonder what you're what you see in terms of legislative Democrats and how they felt about their priorities in the budgets that then-Governor Napolitano negotiated with Senate President Ken Bennett, House Speaker Jim Weiers to what legislative Democrats are saying now about the budget negotiated by Katie Hobbs and Ben Toma and Warren Petersen.
BENSON: Look, I think, under the Napolitano administration, it would have been virtually unheard of to see the sort of public criticism of the Democratic governor that you have seen this session and, last session for that matter. It, it's, what it means to be a Democrat in this state has changed in a big way in that period of time.
I mean, this is a very progressive caucus. I think during the Napolitano administration, she was clearly running the show for Democrats in this state. And, you know, that is less so the case at this point. You've got a number of Democratic statewides, including the attorney general, including the secretary of state, folks who are potentially looking at running up for governor themselves in 2026. So it's a much more that, the power structure is much more diffuse than it ever was under Napolitano. She was, she was the unchallenged leader of the party.
BRODIE: And, Jen, it's worth probably noting that the, the Democratic caucuses in the Legislature are bigger now than they were under Governor Napolitano. But, you know, you were a member of that caucus until fairly recently. I'm curious what you make of the fact that Democratic, some Democratic leaders didn't vote for this budget that we, you know, we just heard a moment or two ago, a Democratic lawmaker criticizing their leadership and the governor for what was in this budget or what was not in this budget.
LONGDON: Right. Well, with a one vote majority, in favor of the Republicans, that is a very tenuous lead. You know, I think that, Senator Menendez made a great statement on the floor as he was getting ready to vote, talking about how long he's been there and that folks would think that they were going to negotiate better than the governor did, do that, and I'm paraphrasing, but somewhat from a position of naivete. Others might call it hubris to say that they weren't going to go in and negotiate as hard as the governor did. I don't know that, you know, a member of, Democratic leadership was going to cut a better deal than the governor did.
BRODIE: Do you feel, having read what you have of the budget, do you feel like it was a good deal for Democrats?
LONGDON: Again, like everyone else, this is a deficit budget. And when you look at it, I think that, you know, the adage is, if we all come out of there equally unhappy, we did a good job. Yeah, I am happy with it. You know, I'm happy that, for example, arts, DD and Area Agency on Aging were all going to be cut down to zero. Each one of them saw $2 million, which is something that I think is very helpful. I think that, they made some good compromises on education and health care. And certainly, you know, the Safe Act along the borders is, something I strongly support.
BRODIE: Matt, on the Republican side, we know that a number of, a number of members of the Arizona Freedom Caucus were not impressed with his budget. They didn't vote for it and were pretty critical of especially Senate President Warren Petersen over this. Do you think this is a good deal on the Republican side?
BENSON: I think it's very similar to the Democrats in terms of the, just the grousing among some of the members of the Republican caucus, the Freedom Caucus, you mentioned, but not just, not just the far right. I mean, I think Matt Gross voted against this budget, you know, not a Freedom Caucus member, considered more, center of the party.
BRODIE: Who was a budget director under former Governor Ducey.
BENSON: Absolutely. So, again, like, as Jen pointed out, I mean, bipartisan budgets kind of give everybody something to hate. That's just the nature of the beast.
On Democrats winning control of Arizona Legislature
BRODIE: All right. So, Jen, we mentioned that the Democratic caucus is bigger now than it was under Governor Napolitano. Governor Hobbs has clearly made it a point to try to win control of one or both of the legislative chambers. And, to that end, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said this week that it would be allocating $10 million for legislative campaigns as part of a summer program.
This is something that Democrats have been talking about basically forever. I mean, at least as long as I've been here, about flipping one or both of the legislative chambers. Is this the year? I mean, that's sort of the perennial question here, right? Is this the year?
LONGDON: I'd like to believe it. You know, I chaired the ADLC, the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, for a couple of years, stayed very involved until my retirement from the Legislature. And then the bylaws don't allow me to stay within the organization. I'd like to see every one of those $10 million come here. Arizona is the swing state, I think.
And, and I think what's really important for an organization like that to, to remember is, when you activate those state legislative races, there is no like up ticket drop off. If you activate those races, Senate president, have a stronger pathway through our, through our state. So I think that I'd like to see more of those national organizations looking at Arizona through that lens.
BRODIE: Does it hurt some of those efforts, though, I mean, we've seen poll after poll that show former President Trump leading President Biden in Arizona. Does that hurt that effort if the top of the ticket is maybe not going the way the Democrats want it to go?
LONGDON: I'm trying to just stay focused on what's happening in the state Legislature, because one seat ties it in either chamber. Had there been a tie, we wouldn't have seen 2060 make it to the ballot, and lots of these.
BRODIE: The border security measure.
LONGDON: The border security measure. We wouldn't have seen this initiative of on judges, so that if they are voted out, they'll still get to stay in office, nullifying that. That wouldn't have made it to the ballot. So I'm just going to stay really focused on the state Legislature. If I look elsewhere, I, you know, I'll lose energy for what I need to do.
BRODIE: Matt, what do you think? I mean, there's a handful of swing districts in this state, in the legislature. Is there a realistic possibility the Democrats could potentially take one or both of the legislative chambers, you think?
BENSON: Well, of course there's a possibility. I mean, look, I've been covering the or either covering or following closely the Arizona Legislature since 2006. Same as yourself. Every cycle since then, Democrats have thought they had an opportunity to, to take one or both chambers. Especially kind of in recent years. It hasn't happened yet. That doesn't mean it's not going to happen this year, but I think it's always an uphill battle for Democrats.
There have been some key resignations and folks not running for, for offices that Democrats expected were going to. It's going to make it a more uphill fight. But it's certainly possible.
BRODIE: Do Republicans in, that from the national perspective, is there the same I guess, financial commitment, the same attention on the Arizona Legislature as there seems to be from the Democratic side?
BENSON: Well, I don't think we've seen some of the pledges of national money to, to support some of these legislative races on the right that you're seeing on the left. But, but, you know, it's, it's only June.
