The Arizona House of Representatives pulled off a political high wire act, passing a conservative $17.3 billion state budget this week entirely with Republican votes—while nearly every Democrat stayed home, and two GOP members were absent as a result of trips to Canada.
With no votes to spare, the 31-vote victory capped off a tense day marked by partisan walkouts, intra-party rifts, and accusations of behind-the-scenes interference from Senate leadership.
The House budget, introduced as HB2947, passed Friday with 31 Republican votes—the minimum required for approval. According to the House GOP, the plan funds public safety, infrastructure, education, and border security without raising taxes or expanding government.
Democrats refused to participate in the vote, leaving the legislature mid-day. A roll-call photo taken during final passage shows 29 “Not Voting” entries, with all but two belonging to the 27 Democratic State Representatives.
Also, absent were Republican Representatives Justin Wilmeth and Chris Lopez, who, according to Capitol insiders, were traveling in Canada and unable to vote.
The day’s drama was not limited to just who was on the floor for the vote. Sources close to House members say Senate President Warren Petersen was actively reaching out to Republican House members during the voting window—reportedly urging Freedom Caucus members and other conservatives to withhold support and sink the budget. Another Senator, John Kavanagh, was asking House Members what specific items they would want to add to the Senate’s budget in order to support it. The effort was unsuccessful, as every House Republican voted “Yes” for the House budget instead.
“It has been a strange process where Petersen wants to work with Hobbs more than Montenegro,” remarked one observer, “You would ordinarily associate Petersen with the more conservative approach to things, but in this case it is Montenegro and the House to the right.”
Earlier in the week, during a public appropriations hearing, Representatives David Livingston and Matt Gress publicly disclosed that the Senate’s budget was being negotiated directly with Governor Katie Hobbs—a fact that Senate leaders had not previously confirmed.
That revelation, coupled with reported attempts to block the House budget within the GOP ranks, has likely widened the divide between Republican majorities in the two chambers, which plays to Governor Hobbs’ advantage. With time running out, a fiscal deadline of June 30 fast approaching, and the GOP divided, any eventual compromise will result in more spending, not less.
No matter the outcome, House members believe they did the right thing by showing how to pass a conservative budget that reflects priorities they believe line up with the majority of the state’s population. They also think it provides voters with a glimpse of what kind of results they could expect if they paired a conservative Legislature with a Republican Governor in the 2026 election.
Sen Jake Hoffman, the leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, posted on X praising House Speaker Montenegro and House members who voted for the budget as “…fearless & willing to put everything on the line to serve the people of Arizona well.”
Proud to negotiate a package of conservative wins like this for the @AZFreedomCaucus
I’m blessed to have the most conservative members of the legislature alongside me in this caucus
They’re fearless & willing to put everything on the line to serve the people of Arizona well 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Nhok25KzLH
— Jake Hoffman (@JakeHoffmanAZ) June 14, 2025
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…” -Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 11 November 1947
If you are traveling in a foreign country during a vote, you need to give up your seat.
Hobbs will use line item veto’s to scrub GOP items
leaving bloated budget for democrats
The performance of the operetta conservatives party is dismal! Where are the real conservatives in this state?
Lets see it get signed