Arizona state senators plan to vote on what they’re calling a bipartisan budget this week, one that Republican leaders in the chamber negotiated with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Senate GOP leaders drew a stark contrast between their $17.5 billion spending plan and a budget that passed on party lines last week in the House. In a statement, Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) called the House spending proposal a “fantasyland” budget given that House Republicans adopted it with no input from their Senate counterparts or the governor.
Shope said he believes the Senate’s proposal reflects priorities with broad voter support, like funding for border security and rural infrastructure projects.
“I think overall it’s something that people can vote yes on and feel proud about, and we can go ahead and get started on work for next year’s budget,” he said.
Senate Appropriations Chair John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) noted that the budget would look very different under a Republican governor, but the meetings with Hobbs’ staff were productive and included concessions from both sides.
“We kept the really toxic red meat for the base items out of the budget,” he said of the Senate’s plan.
Much of the new spending in the Senate plan goes to raises at the Department of Public Safety, border security and road projects.
The Senate’s proposed budget includes more spending than House Republicans approved — a difference of about $300 million, due in part to senators proposing to end a $100 million hospital assessment tax expansion that the legislature increased last year. Kavanagh said the price tag may grow larger if Senate leadership and Hobbs entertain more House budget requests.
Both the House and Senate budgets also include funding intended for the Prescott Rodeo — an effort to get around a court order that ruled a similar 2023 appropriation to the “World’s Oldest Rodeo” violated the Arizona constitution’s gift clause. In the latest budget, $15 million would be sent directly to the city of Prescott — rather than the nonprofit that operates the rodeo — a maneuver Shope said should keep the appropriation within legal bounds.
Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) signaled Democrats will back the Senate’s spending plan, though she acknowledged there’s not much in the budget that pleases her caucus beyond protecting funding for key state agencies.
“Our caucus is here. We are fighting for what we can, so what ends up coming forward will have Democratic votes on it, because we have been fighting to get what narrow gains we can,” Sundareshan said. “Doesn’t sound fun but you know what, that’s responsible, and that’s what Senate Democrats are here to be.”
Sundarsehan lamented that the Senate budget plan, like the House version, doesn’t have restrictions on the state’s universal private school voucher program, which Hobbs and Democrats have pushed for over the past three years.
House Republican leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
Senate leadership plans to hold a vote on their own budget as early as Wednesday.
