Arizona House passes continuation budget, but Gov. Katie Hobbs has vowed to veto it

PHOENIX — Despite Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ promise to veto it, the Republican-led Arizona House passed a continuation budget Tuesday night in an effort to avoid a government shutdown.

Monday is the state-mandated deadline to fund the government for the next fiscal year.

Late last week, the Republican-led Senate passed a $17.6 billion bipartisan budget after negotiating with the governor. But the House has refused to take up that proposal with less than a week to go until a potential state government shutdown.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro said the Senate-approved spending package “failed to meet our standards.”

“The House acted decisively today to prevent a government shutdown and protect Arizona taxpayers,” he said in a statement Tuesday night. “Once it became clear the budget deal negotiated by the Senate and Gov. Katie Hobbs lacked the votes and failed to meet our standards for fiscal discipline and transparency, we advanced a continuation budget to keep state services operating past June 30 and allow time for further negotiations.”

What has Hobbs said about a House continuation budget?

Montenegro first announced that the House would pursue a continuation budget on Saturday.

Hobbs responded by saying House leaders “abdicated their responsibility” during the negotiation process.

“Let me be clear: Any kind of partisan ‘continuation budget’ will immediately meet my veto pen, if it even has the votes to reach my desk,” Hobbs said in a statement Saturday.

Christian Slater, Hobbs’ communications director, doubled down on the governor’s intentions Tuesday.

“If it reaches her, she will veto it. She’s been crystal clear on this since Saturday,” he said on X.

The House passed its version of a full budget earlier this month, but Hobbs called it “dead on arrival.”

Where does the GOP-led Senate stand on state budget?

To make matters more complicated, the Senate voted to adjourn after passing its budget plan in a marathon session that went past midnight Thursday.

Senate President Warren Petersen told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Chris and Joe Show on Friday that he was under the impression there was enough support in the House to pass it.

He explained that a funding pool was divided three ways during negotiations, essentially one-third for each GOP-controlled chamber and one third for the governor and Democrats.

He said the state budget has to be bipartisan when there’s a divided government, noting that the governor can erase Republican priorities she doesn’t like through line-item vetoes.

“This was a good budget. … It wasn’t uber conservative, but it leans right, which is about as good as you can get,” Petersen said.

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