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Hobbs lifts bill signing moratorium as Arizona budget talks progress

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs meets with leaders of the other Colorado River Basin states in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2026.
Lowell Whitman
/
Department of Interior
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs meets with leaders of the other Colorado River Basin states in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2026.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs lifted a bill signing moratorium on Thursday in light of productive budget talks with Republican lawmakers.

Hobbs walked away from budget negotiations in March, citing disagreements with Republican legislative leaders over education funding. Then, on April 13, Hobbs declared she wouldn’t sign any bills until Republicans presented her with a serious budget plan.

They sent her a partisan state budget proposal a few weeks later, which she promptly vetoed.

Since then, Hobbs and GOP leaders have engaged in budget conversations.

Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater described those talks as “a week of good faith negotiations and productive exchange on the best path toward a bipartisan and balanced budget.”

This was the second time in two years that Hobbs threatened to veto all bills sent to her desk to pressure GOP lawmakers to negotiate with her.

Currently, both the House and Senate are on a hiatus from regular committee hearings and votes while the budget gets hammered out between Hobbs’ team and legislative leaders behind closed doors.

More Arizona politics news

Camryn Sanchez is a senior field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with Arizona politics.