Arizona Senate passes budget, Gov. Hobbs signs it to avoid shutdown

PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the state budget sent to her desk by the Senate on Friday, averting a government shutdown with just days to spare.

The Senate powered through an amended version of its $17.6 billion bipartisan spending plan after the House approved it Thursday night.

A budget needed to be signed before midnight Monday to prevent Arizona from experiencing its first government shutdown.

“By working together, we have secured pay raises for state police and firefighters, made child care more affordable and accessible, taken action to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and invested in public education from kindergarten through higher ed,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We showed Arizonans what is possible when we are willing to reach across the aisle and deliver common sense solutions for the people of our state.”

Hobbs played a role in negotiating the Senate plan and previously vetoed two other proposals that originated in the House.

After Hobbs’ rebuke, the House turned its attention to a state budget package the Senate originally passed last Friday.

Senate President Warren Petersen negotiated with House leaders to keep amendments to a minimum. The House wound up tweaking the package before sending it back to the Senate for reapproval.

What’s in the state budget package sent to Gov. Hobbs?

The plan now includes the following allocations:

• $92 million for new public safety investments.
• $119 million for new transportation initiatives.
• $281 million for new K-12 education funding.
• $29 million for new higher education funding.
• $182 million for new health and welfare funding.
• $12 million for new water investments.

“In the current divided government, we had a choice: allow a shutdown or improve the plan left on the table. We chose to fight—and secured more than $100 million in savings and critical reforms that would not have happened without us,” House Speaker Steve Montenegro said in press release Friday.

Petersen has been saying that all sides need to be represented in the final product when there is a split government.

As the shutdown deadline drew near, he expressed frustration with his GOP counterparts in the House over how they approached the budget process.

He told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Thursday morning it was “insane” to present spending plans that had no chance of passing after Montenegro did it twice. Hobbs had already promised to veto the House proposals before they reached her desk.

“Let’s stop wasting people’s time. Let’s stop sending out mass confusion. Let’s get the work done and let’s wrap this up,” Petersen said.

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