Governor Vetoes House Budgets Risking Government Shutdown

In spite of public posturing about being worried about a potential shutdown of state government, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed both budget proposals passed by the Arizona House of Representatives and State Senate, including the original conservative State House budget that was approved earlier this month and ignored by the State Senate, and what has been called the continuation budget that was passed Tuesday to ensure state government would remain open past the June 30th deadline.

The vetoes were not a surprise as Hobbs had promised to veto the budgets to force the State House to support the budget she had already negotiated with the State Senate.
Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro expressed his disappointment about the vetoes, saying “I’m disappointed the Governor has now vetoed two responsible budgets passed by the House—each of which would have prevented a government shutdown and kept essential state services running.”

Now, legislative sources report that Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen are trying to find middle ground that can pass both chambers and be signed by Governor Hobbs. Expectations are that the total spending will be far closer to the total proposed by Petersen and Hobbs than what was proposed by Montenegro.

“No knock against Montenegro or the legislators in the House, but one chamber isn’t going to win if they’re up against the other chamber and the Governor.  So Petersen and Hobbs will ultimately get to spend most of what they want.” said one Capitol observer.

Expectations are that negotiations will continue for as long as a day before some sort of package is ready for a vote.  Assuming Hobbs is supportive, legislative Democrats will be expected to vote for it, giving it the cushion it needs to pass over conservative GOP objections.