Key Points:

• Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a state budget, prevents government shutdown 

• It caps off a long and arduous process that saw three separate budget proposals make it to the governor’s desk

• House and Senate Republicans both celebrated the budget’s passage, despite disagreements between the two chambers

Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bipartisan budget on June 27, ending a weeks-long saga of standoffs between the Legislature’s two chambers that nearly ended in the state’s first government shutdown. 

The budget is almost exactly the same as the one Hobbs negotiated with the Senate, which House Republicans refused to put up for a vote last week. After Hobbs vetoed the House’s two budget proposals on June 25, the chamber passed the Senate budget on June 26 with minor tweaks. 

“By working together, we have secured pay raises for state police and firefighters, made child care more affordable and accessible, taken action to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and invested in public education from kindergarten through higher ed,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We showed Arizonans what is possible when we are willing to reach across the aisle and deliver common sense solutions for the people of our state.”

Hobbs’ communications director, Christian Slater, called it a “HUGE win” in a post on X. The $17.6 billion budget included several proposals the governor had requested when she presented her executive budget request to lawmakers in January, like funding for childcare programs, Colorado River litigation, veteran homelessness initiatives and health care for developmentally disabled individuals. 

It is the third time Hobbs, a Democrat, and the GOP-controlled Legislature have been able to pass a bipartisan budget during an era of divided government. It has been the most contentious budget process during her rule so far. 

Both House and Senate Republicans celebrated the passage of the budget, despite the tense weeks of infighting between the two that preceded it. At one point, Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, chastised members of his party while speaking before the Senate on June 25.

“It doesn’t take competence or courage to pass a budget that only has ‘Rs’ on this because that is how you live and achieve and score short-term political points. And with the help of shock jocks and troll farms, you can fool some of the people, some of the time,” Petersen said. “It takes leadership, competence and courage to pass a bipartisan budget in a divided government.”

Petersen doubled down on those sentiments as the Senate gave final approval before sending the budget to Hobbs.

“For those who allowed this to happen, I would just say, get your house in order, because I am certain this body and the public won’t be fooled a second time,” Petersen said. 

According to Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, House Republicans added about $17 million in spending and a few policy changes to the Senate budget after saying for days that it would not pass the House without significant changes. 

House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, painted a different picture of the budget process while speaking on the House floor on June 26.

“We have been hard at work for months. In fact, the House has led every step of the way,” said Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear. “We come together because we have a divided government and what we can do, as Republicans, we have done. We’re holding the line, and I’m proud of that. We’re holding the line on spending. We’re holding the line on school choice. We’re holding the line on the values that matter to us.”