Gov. Hobbs announces bill moratorium, vows to veto all legislation until GOP reveals budget

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Monday she will veto almost every bill that reaches her desk until Republican legislators publicly release their budget proposal and return to negotiations, escalating a monthslong standoff over state spending.

The Democratic governor said she will make two exceptions for public safety measures: One that would address first responder death benefits and another bill allocating $4.75 million from the Highway Patrol Fund to the Department of Public Safety.

Why Hobbs is issuing the moratorium

The moratorium comes 87 days after Hobbs released her executive budget, which called for middle-class tax cuts and $1.5 billion to public schools.

Hobbs articulated her frustration to KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce & Gaydos last week.

“All the Republicans in the legislature have done is say, ‘That’s not a balanced budget, we can’t do that.’ Then they keep sending me irresponsible tax breaks for special interests and billionaires without showing Arizonans how they’re going to pay for that. … I don’t know how to negotiate with people who won’t show us a plan of how they want to balance the budget,” she said.

Negotiations stalled March 20 after GOP leadership told the governor’s office that Prop 123, a key funding mechanism for K-12 education, was taken off the table.

GOP leaders: Hobbs ‘walked away’ from a deal

In a statement issued shortly after Hobbs’ announcement, Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro said it was Hobbs who left the table.

“Governor Hobbs quit the budget talks more than three weeks ago after it became clear her numbers did not add up, and now she is trying to distract from that failure with a bill-signing freeze,” Montenegro said in a statement. “That is political theater. Arizona needs a balanced budget built on honest numbers, not press stunts and invented revenue. House Republicans are at the Capitol, doing the work and ready to govern. The Governor can end her sideshow anytime by coming back to the table, doing her job and dealing with reality.”

Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen issued a similar statement last month.

“[Hobb’s budget proposal would] drain a voter-protected education fund, pile on $1.5 billion in new debt and rely on numbers that simply don’t add up,” Petersen and Montenegro said in a joint statement. They pledged to put forward a “responsible, balanced budget” in the coming weeks that funds schools and cuts taxes for families.

Hobbs issued a similar moratorium last year

This is not the first time Hobbs has issued a legislative moratorium.

In April 2025, the governor took a similar step, vowing to veto all legislation until the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bipartisan plan to fund the Division of Developmental Disabilities.

She lifted the moratorium a week later after signing a compromise spending bill into law.

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