Gov. Katie Hobbs is in a standoff with Republican lawmakers, refusing to sign legislation until they send her a budget proposal. So far, they don’t have one prepared.
Hobbs’ “bill signing moratorium” has been in effect since April 13. She did the same thing last year when budget negotiations with GOP lawmakers stalled. Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) says lawmakers will have a budget plan ready sometime in the next two months.
“Ordinarily at this point we’d still be negotiating with the governor and probably be close on something, but she said, ‘you do it,’ so we had to begin earlier in the process,” Kavanagh said.
Sen. David Livingston (R-Peoria) said the timeline could be shorter, since Republicans seem to be on the same page.
Republicans criticized Hobbs for leaving the negotiating table until they present something.
GOP lawmakers say their budget will conform to federal tax cuts and likely slash the budgets of state agencies.
“Two years ago the governor agreed to a 3.5 % agency cut to balance the budget. I think it’s perfectly reasonable that she does at least that again and probably more,” Livingston said.
He noted a handful of agencies, like the Department of Public Safety, will likely be exempt from cuts.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) said there’s not much else to do in the meantime.
“I mean the governor put out her budget proposal. Republicans control this body. We will have input, but we generally need to know what the Republicans like or don't like from the governor's proposal,” Sundareshan said.
Hobbs presented her budget proposal in January, as is customary for the governor.
On Tuesday, she accused Republicans of “breaking their promise” to produce a budget. Last month, GOP leaders said they’d release a budget in the next “several weeks.”
“My budget has been out there for 90-some days, and the Republicans don’t like it, so it’s hard to negotiate when you don’t know what they’re trying to negotiate on. So, I've asked them for a plan and they haven’t been willing to give one,” Hobbs said on Friday.
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The state Senate is expected to gavel into session Monday, then vote to take the next few weeks off. This follows the House, which last week voted to adjourn until the beginning of June.
