Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs says bipartisan negotiations forged state budget plan

PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said the state budget package set for introduction Monday is the product of give and take between Democrats and Republicans.

“We’ve been meeting with Republican leadership and Democratic leadership for a couple of months now to negotiate what you’ll see in the bills that are introduced this afternoon,” Hobbs, a Democrat, told reporters Monday morning after a press conference on how the state is planning to handle the end of the federal Title 42 immigration policy on Thursday.

Hobbs said that when she became Arizona’s first Democratic governor since Janet Napolitano left office in 2009, she knew getting a budget done with the GOP-led Legislature would have to be a bipartisan affair.

“We are going to have to give some things up,” she said. “The Republicans are going to have to give some things up, and I think you’ll see that in the bills.”

Hobbs didn’t get into details about what compromises were made on either side.

Less than two weeks after taking office, Hobbs released her $17.1 billion budget proposal on Jan. 13.

House Speaker Ben Toma, a Republican, said at the time Hobbs’ plan would be “dead on arrival,” calling it a “left-wing wish list.”

The Legislature passed a $15.8 million continuation budget on party lines in February, but Hobbs vetoed it, calling it a “partisan exercise.”

Lawmakers will have until July 1 to pass a budget that Hobbs will sign or face a government shutdown.

Last year, the Legislature didn’t pass a spending plan until June 23. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed the $18 billion package on June 28.

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