Key Points:

• House Republicans proposed their own version of the budget

• Senate and governor disapprove of the plan

• Democrats say a bipartisan package will be revealed next week

The House Appropriations Committee passed a $17.3 billion budget package that is “dead on arrival” with Gov. Katie Hobbs.

The House’s budget was created without direct input from the Senate or Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office and has been criticized by Hobbs for cuts to health care and K-12 spending. The budget package passed the appropriations committee on a party line vote.

“From day one of the budget process, I have worked with leaders of both parties in both chambers to craft a bipartisan, balanced, and responsible budget. This reckless and partisan budget is not that,” Hobbs said in a written statement on June 12. “House Republicans are yet again playing political games, attempting to jam through a budget that would decimate the middle class families I fight for. I won’t let their partisan antics distract me from working to pass a bipartisan budget that strengthens public safety, lowers the cost of childcare, protects public education funding, and gives our Veterans the support they deserve.”

Some House Republicans acknowledged their budget package won’t be the final product that ends up getting signed by Hobbs. House Appropriations Chairman David Livingston, R-Peoria, called on House members to submit amendment ideas as they continue negotiating. 

“This budget is a robust, comprehensive financial roadmap, which I might add, 85% of it is going to be enacted into law,” said Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix. 

Several members of the legislature have acknowledged that the House budget was prepared without agreement from the Senate, which both Livingston and Senate Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh have said is unprecedented during their tenures at the Legislature. 

Democrats have criticized the House budget package as an exercise in futility and accused Republicans of being away from the negotiating table with Hobbs for the last three weeks leading into the House Appropriations hearing. 

“House Republicans have been completely and totally missing in actions from budget negotiations for weeks,” said House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen. “Now, in a desperate attempt to become relevant to the budget, House Republicans have introduced this sham — written, haphazardly, behind closed doors to appease the far right Freedom Caucus.”

Livingston and Gress said the budget was crafted with consideration to requests from House Democrats, the Senate and the governor. 

Gress specifically mentioned to reporters on the House floor that the budget package would fully fund the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System’s Parents as Paid Caregivers program and $3.8 million that would go to free and reduced school lunches for K-12 students. 

One of Hobbs’ priorities was to also increase salaries for correctional officers, and the House budget would give a 5% raise to the Department of Public Safety and correctional officers.

Additionally, House Republicans plan to allocate $94 million for infrastructure improvements, primarily for Interstate 10 and State Highway 347.

The budget would also reduce tuition for in-state college students at public universities by 2.5%, saving students a little more than $300. 

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee gave the legislature about $277 million of available resources in April for the state budget, and both Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged there’s not a lot of funds to go around.

“This has been a very unusual way to do a budget. There’s not a handshake agreement with the Senate or the governor yet,” Livingston said. “We’re looking forward to understanding the differences between the Republican House plan and the governor’s plan. This is not a final product.”

Democrats have rejected the budget package and say a true bipartisan budget will be announced next week in the Senate. During a press conference before the appropriations hearing, Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia expressed concern about $60 million of cuts to additional assistance for public schools, or additional funding granted to schools based on the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunches. 

“How much longer must Arizona public educators fund these holes out of their own pockets while not receiving the pay that they deserve,” Garcia said. 

Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, said she was disturbed by a provision in the budget that would prohibit public universities from using public or private funds to subsidize tuition or costs for students who are not lawfully present in the U.S.

Austin said that provision appeared to be an attempt to unconstitutionally overturn the voter-approved Proposition 308 from 2022, which allows non-citizen students to receive in-state college tuition if the student attended school in Arizona for at least two years and graduated. 

“That’s absolutely egregious,” Austin said. “It shows we do not entrust our citizens who are voting to have their voices heard.”

In a June 12 news release, Hobbs noted that House Republicans proposed reducing Medicaid spending by $225 million and increasing the state’s hospital tax by $200 million.

House Democrats declined to comment on the details of the budget package they’ve been working on with the Senate and the Governor’s Office, opting to wait until the chamber releases it publicly next week. 

“It won’t be perfect. No budget is. But even with limited resources, it will better reflect our state’s shared values and address our state’s most pressing concerns,” De Los Santos said. 

Livingston said the House will amend its budget package on June 13 and attempt to vote on it if they can gather 31 votes in the chamber. He also said he believes the Senate is proceeding with the governor’s budget.

“If the Senate wants to do that, that’s fine but let’s call it what it is. It’s the governor’s budget, adjusted, in the Senate,” he said.

The Senate plans to convene on June 16 to introduce its budget bills.