Lawmakers approved what’s being termed a “temporary freeze” of about $582 million dollars in the budgets of state agencies and other dedicated funds.
Republican leaders hope it will be the first step toward jump-starting negotiations to fix a $1.2 billion deficit this fiscal year.
House Speaker Jim Weiers brushed aside criticisms from Democrats that the proposal is out of order because it bypasses bipartisan negotiations that have been ongoing since January. He said the move wasn’t meant to be offensive.
Rather, Weiers said, the goal is to ensure the money isn’t spent in state government’s day-to-day operations while budget negotiations drag on.
“I don’t see this as confrontational. I see this as good business,” he said. “I think this is reasonable. I think this is the best we can do at this point.”
Senate President Tim Bee said the bill resulted from the slow pace of negotiations, and the expectation of an even larger deficit next year. 
“What was passed…was essentially an effort to try and freeze in place some of the resources that we are looking at as potential areas for budget reductions or for fund transfers,” he said. “And that’s being done because it is taking a long time to work through the process and we are trying to now work on both budget years. We felt it was important to at least place a hold on those funds until final decisions can be made.”
But Democrats said the move was unprecedented and contrary to the negotiations Weiers and Bee have been involved in for more than two months.
“I’ve been through a lot of budget rodeos in my life,” said Rep. Pete Rios, D-23, who is in his 24th year of legislative service, “and I’ve never seen the likes of what we’re doing.”
Bee said the negotiations were scheduled to continue March 10.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Janet Napolitano would not comment on the spending freeze legislation, H2857, which was approved March 6 by both the House and Senate in party-line votes.
Although lawmakers approved the bill, it had not been transmitted to the governor when Arizona Capitol Times went to press. Governor’s spokeswoman Shiloh Mitchell said Napolitano does not comment on legislation until it reaches her desk.
“But the governor has said that the budget should not be presented to her in a piecemeal fashion and should be done in a bipartisan process,” Mitchell said.
Senate Minority Leader Marsha Arzberger said she believed Napolitano would veto the bill.
“I think the governor has good judgment,” she said.
Democrats chided Republicans for pushing the measure, saying there would be no reason to vote on a stop-gap spending measure if lawmakers in the majority would fully commit to the negotiations with Democrats.
“We are in March and we are still dragging our feet,” House Minority Whip Steve Gallardo said, before urging Republicans to “roll up (their) sleeves and get to work” on crafting a proposal that would be supported by both parties.
The bill was approved 33-24 in the House then substituted for an identical bill in the Senate, where it was approved 17-13.
Last month, House and Senate committees approved a budget fix that included many of the spending cuts and fund sweeps included in the freeze legislation passed March 6. However, the earlier form of the bill included covering the remainder of the deficit by removing $615 million from the state’s rainy day fund.