By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- State government will not shut down Monday night.
Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday penned her approval to a nearly $17.6 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins Tuesday. That followed a Thursday night vote by the House and ratification Friday by the Senate.
Most immediately, the deal means that there is no longer a threat that state employees would be laid off, schools wouldn't get their funds and state parks would shutter just ahead of the July 4 holiday. That was a real possibility given that the current authority to spend money expires on Monday night.
It wasn't really the budget that many lawmakers from both parties wanted.
Republicans complained about the large increase from the current $16.1 billion budget adopted a year ago. But while they control both the House and Senate, the Democratic governor gets the last word. And that forced them to agree with much of what she demanded.
Even at that, some Democrats refused to vote for the plan, arguing it short-changes important priorities while continuing to spend nearly $1 billion on the universal voucher plan that allows parents to get taxpayer funds to send their children to private or parochial schools or home school them, regardless of their own finances.
Hobbs, in her budget plan introduced in January, had proposed phasing out the amount of those vouchers -- formally known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts that average $7,400 a year -- for those families making more than $100,000 and eliminating them entirely for families with incomes over $200,000. That proved a non-starter with Republicans who said family resources are irrelevant to whether someone should be able to get a public benefit.
That annoyed Sen. Lauren Kuby.
"It's a scam that drained over $1 billion from our treasury and has taken money from our public schools in the name of subsidizing wealthy Arizonans for attending private schools,'' said the Tempe Democrat. "It's wrong.''
Hobbs, in a prepared statement, made no mention of those vouchers. Instead the governor said the deal it brings the state closer to what she dubbed in January to be the "Arizona Promise'' of "increased opportunity, security and freedom for everyday Arizonans.''
She highlighted pay raises for state police and firefighters, increased state funds for subsidized child care, funds to deal with drug trafficking and human smuggling, and additional dollars for K-12 education as well as community colleges and universities.
In the end, though, just six of the 13 Senate Democrats agreed to go along; it fared better in the House where it picked up support of 20 of 27 Democrats.
But the concerns went beyond dollars.
Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales pointed to language in the package setting aside more than $24.7 million for the Gang and Immigration Team Enforcement Mission, including almost $12.9 million for the Department of Public Safety for "strictly enforcing'' federal immigration laws, helping county sheriffs and attorneys to investigate those who employ illegal aliens, and even enforcing some remaining provisions of SB 1070, a controversial 2010 law, that allows police to question those they have stopped about their immigration status. The Tucson Democrat said she could not support the plan.
Ditto fellow Tucson Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez.
"My morals and my values cannot allow me to support the terrorizing of my community,'' she said. "So shame on any Democrats who supported including that language.''
As it turns out, though, that exact same language was in the budget lawmakers approved last year for the current fiscal year. Hernandez acknowledged that but told Capitol Media Services "we are not living in the same times,'' citing the new emphasis on raids and deportations in the Trump administration.
The governor, while agreeing to keep that language in the new budget, also is seeking to tamp down concerns. Earlier this month she had DPS Director Jeffrey Glover issue a statement declaring that the agency "does not engage in direct immigration enforcement.''
"GIITEM's primary mission is to combat criminal street gangs and transnational criminal organizations throughout Arizona, working in coordination with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,'' he said.
Gonzales was not convinced.
"The words are in there,'' she said of how the budget directs the funds to be spent.
Republicans had their own disappointments with the package.
Their wish list included things like stricter and more frequent checks of eligibility for food stamps and health care, a 2.5% cut in resident tuition at state universities, and a ban on subsidizing university tuition for those not in this country legally.''
All those, however, proved unacceptable to the Democratic governor. And, in the end, House Speaker Steve Montenegro said he and other members of his caucus had to recognize the political reality of the situation.
"We are in a divided government,'' the Goodyear Republican said. "And the reality is we have to find a way to work together.''
Sen. John Kavanagh who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed.
"I think this is a true bipartisan budget,'' said the Fountain Hills Republican. More to the point, he said it had to be that way given a Republican House and Senate and a Democratic governor.
"When it comes to the budget, it takes three to tango,'' Kanvanagh said -- especially, he said, when one of them has veto power.
What also probably helped force a deal was that looming Monday night deadline.
"I think the most important thing that Republicans are doing is making sure the state functions and that we don't have a shutdown and we don't have layoffs,'' said Rep. David Livingston.
The Peoria Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee was a key critic of the deal the governor negotiated with Senate Republicans. He backed a plan to spend $300 million less.
But in the end, Livingston said this was as good a budget as House Republicans were going to get -- and that there was not a better deal to be had, "not with this governor.''
Some Republicans, however, argued that their leadership caved in too easily to what the governor and her fellow Democrats demanded.
One is a provision that Rep. Alexander Kolodin said would provide Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes with up to $17 million that would go to "progressive'' non-government organizations to help get people registered to vote.
"In other words, we as a Republican body are funding the Left's 2026 campaign,'' said the Scottsdale Republican.
Other lawmakers complained that what was approved Thursday night did not include priorities that were in their earlier $17.3 billion budget plan, having been jettisoned in order to make a deal with the governor.
That included Rep. Justin Olson who sought to require the state's Medicaid program to do additional screening of applicants, including monthly checks to determine eligibility and even requiring the Department of Revenue to report those who have won more than $3,000 in the Arizona Lottery. The Mesa Republican said such measures are necessary because the new spending plan approved Thursday night is $1.4 billion above the current budget.
"That is not a sustainable rate,'' he said. "What better way to be good stewards of our tax dollars than to root out waste, fraud, and abuse?''
While Hobbs agreed to go along with the spending package she helped negotiate, the Democratic leaders in both chambers were divided.
Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan of Tucson said the plan just didn't have enough good things in there to gain her support. She also cited the language giving funds to GITTEM for immigration enforcement.
But Oscar De Los Santos, her House counterpart from Laveen, said there are a lot of good things in the package for Democrats.
"This budget delivers for public school students, protects Medicaid and expands health care for cancer patients and tribal members,'' he said. "It also makes the biggest investment in 10 years in reducing child care costs.''
And while some Republicans also remained unhappy, Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, who voted for the budget, told fellow Republicans they, too, have to look at the wins for their party. That specifically includes not just funds for immigration enforcement -- the very thing that bothered Gonzales and Hernandez -- but that is also protects the system of universal vouchers.
And she reminded the Republicans of the political reality of the situation -- and not just the need to deal with a Democratic governor.
"I do not believe in shutting down the government because DPS doesn't get paid, our teachers don't get paid, nobody's going to be at our parks for Fourth of July,'' Martinez said.
"There are so many ramifications of shutting down the government,'' she said. "And none of them are good. And it blows my mind that people would rather shut down the government and hurt millions of people for politics.''
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