By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- State senators gave final approval early Friday morning for what essentially amounts to a Goldilocks budget: one considered too big by some and too small by others.
On a 17-12 margin lawmakers approved the $17.6 billion spending plan. But the vote was bipartisan, both for and against it.
Six of the 13 Democrats agreed to go along with a deal that had been worked out by Republican leadership with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. But that did not include Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan
The Tucson Democrat said the package leaves out too many priorities that Democrats support. That ranges from providing assistance for child care to ensuring that money promised for education will be there in future years.
The other 11 votes came from Republicans. But not from Sen. Vince Leach, also of Tucson.
He pointed to a report from the legislature's Finance Advisory Committee that said tax collection for the new year that begins July 1 will not be as strong as anticipated. And Leach said the situation also could be worse -- putting the state in the red -- if there is a sharp economic downturn.
Worse yet, he said that Republican legislative leaders were essentially "buying'' GOP votes for the package: Those who agreed to support it would get $5 million to spend on their own priorities.
And Leach said the budget is chock full of those special items like local road construction projects.
"All these little towns are getting a little bit of money,'' he said.
More to the point, Leach said these all add up -- even as the budget package contains no money for things he considers a higher priority like increasing pay for state corrections officers.
What Leach's "no'' vote means is that he doesn't get to earmark some dollars for local projects.
Senate President Warren Petersen, who had sent out a message to recalcitrant lawmakers warning they won't get a share, was unapologetic.
"You don't say, 'I want this' and vote 'no,' '' he told Capitol Media Services.
And Sen. John Kavanagh who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected the suggestion this amounts to extortion.
"After we took care of some significant needs in the 'baseline,' which is the bulk of the budget, we agreed to allow members to control a small amount for their districts if they were for the budget,'' said the Fountain Hills Republican. "If they're not for the budget they don't get their little share.''
But Sundareshan said she is not angry with her Democratic colleagues who decided to go along, even though she would not.
She said they got the best they were going to get, given the amount of money available. And it includes a $200 million one-time boost in K-12 funding.
Still, Sundareshan said there would have been more cash had Republicans not sharply cut income taxes and approved expansion of a program to provide vouchers of tax dollars so parents can send their children to private and religious schools as well as teach them at home.
Among Democrats willing to support the package was Sen. Rosanna Gabaldon.
"It was a deal that was made,'' said the Green Valley Democrat.
"It was bipartisan,'' she said. "Senate Republicans and the governor's office and some of us Senate Democrats came together. And we're supporting the budget.''
But approval was hardly smooth as foes of various provisions sought to make changes that were not part of that deal.
One was an effort by Sen. Jake Hoffman, to add a provision requiring the state's three universities to cut tuition for in-state students by 2.5%, what would amount to a decrease of about $314 a year. The Queen Creek Republican cited figures showing tuition averaging $2,576 in the 2002-2003 school year has now risen to about $12,500.
That tuition cut actually was part of of what was in the House version of the budget. But Kavanagh said that, regardless of his feelings, that was a non-starter because it is not acceptable to Gov. Katie Hobbs whose signature on the package is necessary for enactment.
"The budget deal would collapse,'' he said.
That didn't impress Leach.
"This is the Senate's budget, not the governor's budget,'' he said, insisting that lawmakers are "closest to the people.''
And Sen. Lauren Kuby who voted for the budget -- and against Hoffman's proposal -- said the efforts to lower tuition through a legislative edict ignores an important fact.
"The reason tuition has had to rise is because of the defunding of public education, particularly higher education, in this state,'' said the Tempe Democrat.
Hoffman's amendment failed. So did his separate proposal to deny in-state tuition to those not in this country legally, something he acknowledged could override a 2022 voter-approved provision.
Also going down to defeat -- again, because the governor disapproves -- was Hoffman's plan to allow students attending private and religious colleges to participate in the state's Teachers Academy program.
That program provides one year of college tuition at public community colleges and universities in education programs for each year of teaching in an Arizona public school. Hoffman said expanding the program to private schools -- Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, which bills itself as a Christian school, has specifically lobbied for the change -- would increase the pool of those who will go into teaching to deal with the current shortage.
But he acknowledged there's also a philosophical agenda here.
"We can get non-woke, well-trained teachers into our classrooms, people who actually just want to do reading, writing, math, science, history as opposed to teach all the LBGTQ, etc.'' he said.
In approving the plan, supporters did it in a way to try to force the House to adopt it: Senators voted to adjourn (ITALICS) sine die, (ROMAN) shutting down the session that began Jan. 13.
The House last week adopted its own $17.3 billion spending plan, one approved only with Republican votes as Democrats, left out of negotiations there, simply boycotted the vote. With senators saying they're done, that leaves the House with only one currently viable option: the Senate plan.
Petersen, in a social media post, chided the House for adopting its plan knowing it did not have the support of the governor who gets the last word.
"We have one job to do down here at the Capitol,'' he wrote.
"Pass a real budget. Not a fake budget for optics and talking points that will be gutted by a line item veto pen, but a real budget that has a consensus of conservative Republicans and gets a signature.''
And Sen. T.J. Shope said what the Senate adopted recognizes the political reality of a Republican-controlled Legislature and a Democratic governor.
"In an era of divided government, this budget has a little something for everyone,'' said the Coolidge Republican. And he particularly cited $100 million for road improvement projects, including a major upgrade to SR 347 that runs from the edge of Phoenix to Maricopa, often considered one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state.
Less clear is whether there might still be a way for the Senate to return if the House balks when it returns on Monday.
The budget wasn't the only thing senators approved before shutting down. They also voted to:
- Allow the Arizona Diamondback to divert $500 million in sales tax revenues to make repairs at Chase Field;
- Widen the scope of existing animal cruelty laws to make it a crime to fail to get medical care for a pet;
- Put a measure on the 2026 ballot to limit the ability of cities and towns to impose a sales tax on the purchase of groceries intended for home consumption;
- Voted to override a constitutional limit on K-12 spending, one based on inflation and student growth, to allow schools to spend the money they will receive.
But the Senate went home without approving a plan to extend Proposition 123 which provides extra money for K-12 education by taking funds from a state land trust account. That plan, first approved by voters a decade ago, expires this year.
Also failing to get action before adjournment was a proposal to limit citizens and entities from certain "enemy'' countries from owning land in Arizona. Hobbs vetoed an earlier version but said she would consider something different.
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