Although Governor Katie Hobbs said she had hoped to reach bipartisan solutions to many of the problems facing the state of Arizona, Republicans have not heard from Hobbs’ Democrats in response to their requests for a sit-down.
Now, Senate President Warren Petersen is shining a light on what he says are the “partisan games Senate Democrats are playing with the onset of the 2024 state budget negotiations.”
The Legislature has the statutory obligation to pass a balanced state budget each year, with negotiations routinely commencing before the start of the legislative session. This year, lawmakers are tasked with dealing with a small budget deficit that will likely require trimming what they believe is unnecessary spending to close the one-time funding gap.
According to Senate Republicans, in an effort to obtain the feedback of all 30 Senators to resolve this shortfall, Senate Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh wrote two emails to Senate Democrats, dated December 21, 2023 and January 4, 2024, requesting input on which areas of government the Minority Caucus would prefer to reduce expenditures on, and which areas they wanted to prioritize continued funding for.
Up to today, no response or even acknowledgement of the emails by Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein has been received by Chairman Kavanagh, and Petersen was informed the Minority Leader is directing her Caucus not to engage with the Senate Appropriations Chairman on the budget at all.
“It’s unfortunate we’re kicking off this legislative session with Senate Democrats playing games at the expense of our taxpayers. It’s time to be adults,” said Petersen. “We want all lawmakers to be at the table during budget negotiations, as the citizens of Arizona expect of their elected leaders, but we’ve heard nothing but crickets from the Minority Leader on her statutory obligation. We may have no other choice but to move forward without their input.”