AZ Senate introduces bipartisan budget after House goes solo with its ‘fantasyland’ plan

The Republicans who lead the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate have a long way to go to come to a consensus on their state budget plans before their deadline, in less than two weeks. 

Senate Republicans introduced their budget proposal Monday, which they spent weeks negotiating with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. 

House Republicans left those negotiations several weeks ago to formulate their own plan — without input from Hobbs or Senate Republicans. 

Republican leaders in the Senate described many of the same budget priorities as House Republicans, including public safety, education, transportation and water. 

While one of the chief drafters of the House Republicans’ plan, Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, described it as “eerily similar” to the Senate proposal, the two plans diverge on numerous funding priorities, programs and oversight measures — including funding for Medicaid and K-12 schools. 

Senate Republicans on Monday took aim at House Republicans for passing their own budget late Friday, which has no chance of getting a signature from the governor. Democrats skipped out on that vote, calling it a “sham” since everyone involved knew it had no chance of becoming law. 

“This budget is viable, unlike the fantasyland budget proposed in the House,” Senate President Pro Tem T.J. Shope said in a written statement. “Elections have consequences. We are in an era of divided government, and we must proceed as such. Republicans can’t get everything they want, and neither can Democrats. We did very well with protecting and funding our republican priorities.” 

The Senate’s proposal includes $17.6 billion in spending, compared to the House’s $17.3 billion, with around $260 million more in Medicaid spending in the Senate budget accounting for most of that difference. While the House version would provide around $12 million more than the Senate for critical access hospitals, it also extends a $100 million hospital tax. 

The Senate plan also provides around $100 million more than the House plan in total K-12 education funding, even with a modest funding formula increase from the House. 

The Senate proposal also features around $7 million in adult education funding absent from the House bills. 

And the House plan includes restrictions and increased oversight measures for the state’s Medicaid program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, which were not included in the Senate plan. 

The House budget does contain some funding missing from the Senate’s plan, including some initiatives that Democrats would likely support, like a proposal to beef up oversight of Arizona’s school voucher program. The House plan would provide $2 million for 12 new Department of Education staff members to review purchases for the program, which has faced such huge backlogs that it now allows purchases up to $2,000 without prior review. 

Both proposals include funding for the Riggs Road overpass project and improvements to Interstate 10, as well as the dedication of $1 million to fund Arizona’s legal fight for its share of Colorado River water rights. 

Missing from the Senate plan is the House’s proposal to defy the will of the voters by barring Arizona’s public universities from providing scholarships to students without legal immigration status — even if the money comes from private donors. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee is set to meet Tuesday morning to discuss the 16 bills that make up its budget proposal and to hear from members of the public and representatives from departments and agencies that rely on state funding about their thoughts on the plan. 

Senate leaders expect the chamber to vote on its budget package Wednesday, and then send it to the House for consideration. During the late-evening vote on the House plan last week, Gress asked that the Senate take up the House’s bill instead of voting on its own proposal. It’s unclear how the Senate proposal will be received in the House. 

“Unlike the House budget, the budget we’re introducing in the Senate does not extend a $100 million tax, and it does not include unconstitutional policy measures,” Senate Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh said in a written statement. “The governor has been adamant she will veto the House budget. With the possibility of a government shutdown in a matter of days, we must move forward with our conservative spending plan, and we’re calling on our colleagues in both chambers to support it.”

***UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify that the Senate budget plan includes around $100 million more in K-12 funding than the House plan.