Key Points

• The Division of Developmental Disabilities needs $122 to maintain services

• Republicans have proposed funding by pulling from other programs

• The governor placed a moratorium on all bills until a bipartisan answer is found

Running out of time and money, Gov. Katie Hobbs is raising the stakes in her bid to secure more funding for programs for the developmentally disabled.

On April 17, the governor told lawmakers she would veto any new bills they sent her until she received a measure with the $122 million needed to fund the services through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Without the dollars, the cash would run out at the end of the month.

More to the point, Hobbs said it needs to be in a form she finds acceptable.

And she’s hoping that when she has them by their bills, their hearts and minds will follow.

House and Senate Republicans have already crafted a measure to provide those dollars and planned to vote on it on the day of her announcement. But Hobbs essentially told them not to waste their time, calling it a “non-starter” with too many restrictions and conditions.

The move drew an angry reaction from Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria. He chairs the House Appropriations Committee which has been crafting what he said is a solution that is acceptable to fellow Republicans. He said Hobbs is free to work with Republicans to make changes to the GOP plan.

“Or she can sit up in her ivory tower … and drink her wine and not worry about it,” Livingston said.

Called out by Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, for what she considered offensive speech that violates House rules, Livingston backed off — but only a bit.

“I was referring to the whinyness,” he said.

Hobbs press aide Christian Slater responded by accusing Livingston of “engaging in political warfare” and to “put partisan politics aside and do what’s right for our state.”

But a compromise does not appear likely.

“She’s not getting her way,” Livingston said. “And she will not get her way.”

Supporters of additional disability funding began recall drives against four Republican lawmakers including Livingston and Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, who has been another prime foe of giving the governor what she wants. Also targeted are House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, and Majority Leader Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye.

Each of the petitions says the targeted lawmaker no longer represents the “best interests” of his constituents. And each specifically mentions the refusal to support funding for developmental disabilities, “threatening access to life-sustaining care for thousands of Arizonans.”

In each case, backers need to gather sufficient signatures in each district — the target is based on the number of votes cast in the last election and varies from 21,747 to 34,399 — by Aug. 15. Then, if they meet that goal, an election is called if the lawmaker doesn’t resign.

Recalls against legislators are difficult given the signature hurdle and time deadline. In fact, only one has been successful in recent history: the 2011 ousting of Republican Sen. Russell Pearce over his role as the author of SB1070, a 2010 law that gave police more power to target those not here legally.

There was no immediate response from any of the targets.

At the center of all this is the fact that the Division of Developmental Disabilities will run out of money on May 1.

Much of this concerns the cost of paying parents to care for their own children for up to 40 hours a week.

That program was established during the Covid outbreak when parents found they were unable to hire caregivers. It was funded with federal dollars.

Those funds ran out last year, but Hobbs continued the payments using state dollars. But she didn’t inform lawmakers until January that the entire DDD program, which provides services to about 60,000 Arizonans, would run out of cash without the $122 million infusion.

Livingston and other GOP lawmakers responded by accusing the governor of having purposely given them a budget to adopt that she knew was not balanced and then placing them in the position of having to face parents who brought their disabled children to the Capitol.

The GOP plan, which was supposed to be voted on April 17, does provide the money. But it does so by taking money from other programs like prescription drug rebates, the Housing Trust Fund, and the Arizona Competes Fund which can be used to provide incentives to businesses to move or remain here.

But the dollars are just part of the fight. Republicans are demanding more.

One is reducing payments to parents from 40 hours a week to 20. Lawmakers want the governor to get their approval before the state’s Medicaid program seeks other federal dollars or future waivers from federal rules.

Not all Republicans agree with the package. In fact, several GOP members of the Appropriations Committee were prepared to vote for some changes when the bill was to be considered earlier this week.

Livingston, however, outmaneuvered them. He persuaded Montenegro to add three more Republicans to the panel, enabling him to defeat any changes by an 11-10 margin.

That move — and Livingston’s criticism of Hobbs and legislative Democrats — drew derision from Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa.

“It must be nice to talk about playing games to stack the deck in a committee,” Austin said.

Montenegro took his own shot at the governor, calling her action “political blackmail.”

“She created this crisis by foolishly expanding the DDD program without legislative approval or funding in place,” the Goodyear Republican said in a prepared statement. “And now she’s throwing a tantrum because the Legislature is doing the responsible thing: funding services while putting guardrails in place to keep the program from collapsing.”

Hobbs isn’t the first governor to use her veto power as a means to achieve her goals.

In 2013, Republican Jan Brewer told the Legislature — then in Republican hands as it is now — that she would quash anything they sent her until they adopted a new state budget that included her plan to expand the state’s Medicaid program. She eventually got her way.

Eight years later, Doug Ducey used the same tactic against fellow Republicans in the Legislature, vetoing measures until he got an acceptable budget on his desk.

In that case, Ducey did something that Hobbs did not: He made his threat retroactive, killing 22 measures that already were on his desk when he issued his ultimatum.

Slater, however, said Hobbs will consider the 71 measure on her desk as of the morning of her moratorium and act accordingly.

Some are bills she already has indicated she will sign, such as  special legislation to let Axon Enterprises build a new corporate headquarters, hotel and nearly 2,000 apartments in Scottsdale despite the fact that the plan has been held up because of a local referendum. Hobbs also is likely to approve the”stolen valor” legislation which makes it a crime to claim military honors or service for personal gain, something that includes running for office.

Others may already have been headed for vetoes, like one requiring seventh and eighth graders to get instruction on fetal development, new verification requirements for those receiving food stamps and other public benefits, and a series of changes in laws governing elections and water regulation.