Arizona House Still Fighting For Conservative Budget Alternative

Arizona’s state budget is nearing completion, but critical differences remain as a more conservative approach favored by House Republicans may get run over by a partnership between Senate Republicans and Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs.

It is normal practice, when Arizona has divided government, that the House and Senate put forward a Republican proposal while the Governor offers a Democrat proposal, then negotiations occur to find the common ground needed to get the budget passed and signed into law. That has not been the case this time as House Republicans have tried to advance a more conservative alternative than the one favored by Senate Republicans, led by Senate President Warren Petersen. Instead of first finding middle ground with the House, Senate leadership negotiated directly with Governor Hobbs and her team and, as the Arizona Capitol Times recently reported, the Governor’s office is now aligned with Senate Republicans on the budget and are waiting for House Republicans to get on board.

Complicating life for House Speaker Steve Montenegro is that he has a narrow majority and a handful of moderate lawmakers like Leo Biasiucci and Teresa Martinez are holding out for the less conservative approach favored by the Democrats and Senate Republicans.

Under the Senate plan, the state’s approximately $270 million surplus would be split nearly evenly between the Senate, the House, and the Governor’s office, with the House and Senate each getting around $90 million, and the Governor getting more than $90 million to spend as she sees fit.  Senate Republicans want to divide their $90 million between their 30 members and allow them to each spend it as they wish, while House Republicans want the legislative portions pooled to fund larger long-term projects, like infrastructure and public safety, instead of what critics call “pork projects.”

“At some point the House simply runs out of time and will probably have to yield to Hobbs and Petersen,” said one House lobbyist who asked to remain anonymous as the acrimonious process plays out. “Montenegro has fought the good fight, but he doesn’t have 31 conservatives in the House, so he should do what he can and then move on to the next battle.”

The surplus is still welcome news for Arizonans as Katie Hobbs has spent much of the last year claiming that Arizona’s school choice programs were bankrupting Arizona. In fact, the programs have provided some cost savings, and Arizona’s budget squabbles are over how to spend a surplus of nearly $300 million, not how to deal with any sort of deficit.