Following the adjournment of a highly contentious 2024 legislative session last month, Arizona lawmakers now have the opportunity to reflect on the outcomes we accomplished this year and how we achieved them. While some will use the time to tout their records, any sensible state lawmaker will tell you that we must do more to find common ground and advance long-term solutions for our state’s most pressing concerns. If we want to equitably advance the interests of all Arizonans next year, the time for quick fixes and overly partisan policy proposals must come to an end. 

Unfortunately, this is a lesson the majority party has yet to learn. This past year, Arizona state Republican lawmakers wasted invaluable time on the House and Senate floor deliberating over and advancing partisan policy proposals with little chance of success. These actions culminated in Governor Hobbs having to veto a record number of bills, signaling the need for the Legislature to adopt a more pragmatic approach. 

However, this has yet to come. Instead of focusing on substantive legislation that could gain the governor’s support, we saw divisive measures that deepened the partisan divide. For instance, the state Legislature, in a decision made along party lines, voted to overrule Governor Hobbs’ veto of dangerous legislation, creating a ballot initiative to allow our state to constitutionally questionably usurp border enforcement – a move that could end up costing our state millions of dollars in funds we don’t have. Meanwhile, they also pressed forward with needless legislation to allow the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms, to provide a legal foundation for discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, and to concerningly censor content online through age verification policies. 

While these one-sided legislative proposals illustrated the need for bipartisanship, our state’s budget exemplified another lesson — the need to shift to a long-term strategy. In the session’s closing weeks, our Legislature put forward a budget that made significant cuts to critical services, like education, securing our state’s water future, and vital infrastructure projects to balance the deficit. This move rightfully drew the ire of groups like the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) and education groups who voiced concerns about the ramifications of choosing to temporarily fix a problem by sacrificing investments in our state’s future.

This shortsightedness even drew concerns from our state attorney general, Kris Mayes, who filed suit against state leadership for reallocating opioid settlement funds meant to prevent opioid addiction to remedy the budget’s shortcomings. While Mayes has since dismissed the suit, her action should be a firm indication that short-term remedies are not the solution to our problems.   

Looking ahead to next year’s session, I hope my colleagues will join me in taking stock of the challenges we faced this year and adjust our course to better serve Arizonans. The future of our state depends on our ability to put partisanship aside and work together to find solutions that lay the groundwork for a prosperous and equitable future for all. After all, the people of Arizona deserve nothing less.

Sen. Brian Fernandez, a Democrat, represents Arizona’s 23rd Legislative District in the state Senate.