Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a Republican budget proposal on Tuesday, calling it "unbalanced and reckless,” but she is trying to reopen budget negotiations.
The budget, introduced over a week ago, passed out of the Legislature on party lines — without Democratic support. Despite that fact, Republicans called it a “bipartisan” budget earlier in the day on Tuesday because it had some elements Hobbs asked for, like an infusion of K-12 funds.
Hobbs walked away from negotiations several weeks ago regarding a dispute over education funding, then asked Republicans to send her a budget plan.
“We’ve been here. We never left the table. We’ve been here working hundreds of hours. Our members, our staff. Many of our members have dedicated, if not all of them, hours and hundreds of hours to this budget. Where has the governor been?” House Speaker Steve Montenegro said Tuesday, hours before Hobbs vetoed the budget.
Montenegro and Hobbs’ spokesperson both confirmed that the governor invited the House and Senate to set up a budget meeting, the first in several days.
Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater said Hobbs reached out to both chambers last Friday asking to meet this Wednesday, but the House staff responded saying they couldn’t commit until Hobbs took action on the budget.
Hobbs followed up on Tuesday morning to find a time that works for the House, but they haven’t agreed to talk yet, Slater said.
“With it [the Republican’s budget plan], Arizona would default on our debt obligations, endanger vulnerable children, slash critical public safety funding, and pay for tax breaks to billionaires, data centers and special interests by kicking Arizonans off their healthcare and taking food off their tables,” Hobbs said in a statement.
The House and Senate both decided to take a break after sending the budget to Hobbs. The Senate will be adjourned from May 11 until June 1, and the House is adjourned as of Tuesday until the June 1, unless they’re called back by leadership.
The GOP proposal centers on tax cuts and conformity with federal changes to tax law included in H.R.1, which passed last year. The plan would make broad cuts to state agencies and other government programs to pay for those tax cuts.
Hobbs’ proposal, which was introduced in January, would implement some tax cuts, but not others. It also relies on lawmakers passing Prop 123 to voters for an extension.
Prop. 123 is an education funding mechanism that uses revenue from the state land trust to pay for public education. Republican lawmakers and Hobbs haven’t been able to come to an agreement on what version of Prop. 123 to put on the ballot, and GOP leaders recently said that it’s irresponsible to try to build a budget around revenue from a ballot measure that voters may not choose to pass.
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