It took 18 weeks, but we finally have a state budget for FY2024 that both sides of the political spectrum can live with. Actually, the time it took to reach this budget agreement could be one of the shortest in recent budget negotiation history. More information about the budget deal may be found HERE.
Important as it is, the budget was not the only star of this show. There were a lot of good bills passed and sent to Hobbs. Hobbs has vetoed a record number of bills, and she is not done yet; the legislature is not done sending her bills. In fact, now that the budget is out of the way, there is a renewed push to move as many bills as possible. This is evidenced by the fact that there are over 100 bills scheduled for floor action on Monday.
To see a list of bills that are scheduled for action, go to https://www.azleg.gov/active-bills/ and follow the directions to fill out your search criteria.
Under normal circumstances, this session would have been good, but not spectacular. However, considering that Republicans had only a one-vote advantage in each legislative chamber, and they had a hostile Democrat governor, they deserve a lot of praise for their accomplishments.
Both Speaker Toma and President Petersen deserve words of thanks for a job well done. They were able to keep 47 Republican legislators focused on the overall goal, and managed to keep Hobbs and the Democrat members from derailing their effort. This was no easy task.
The need to show these men that we have their backs is more pressing now because they have been the subject of unfair attacks from members of their own party.
The current mischief du jour is to censure Toma and Petersen for not caving to the demands made by lunatic fringes within the Republican party. More on this subject may be found HERE.
How long this legislature stays in session is hard to predict. Most of the time, when they finish the budget, there is a mad dash for the door, but this time it is different. In addition to finishing up pending bills, they may want to remain in session so that they can take care of any emergencies that result from the grossly mismanaged Biden/Hobbs border policy.
Stay tuned, because next week could be very interesting.