PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers continue to hammer together a $16.1 billion state budget, but the state attorney general is threatening to sue over the use of some opioid settlement funds.
Video in the player above includes Thursday's coverage of lawmakers' discussion on the state budget.
With the state facing a $1.4 billion deficit for the current and next fiscal year, Republican lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, have been negotiating for weeks.
Their budget deal calls for $115 million in money from the opioid settlement to go instead to the Department of Corrections – a move Attorney General Kris Mayes says is illegal.
“This money must be spent on approved purposes agreed to in the One Arizona Agreement,” she said in a statement.
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A spokesperson for Mayes told ABC15 that $75 million in opioid settlement money would be used to cover a budget shortfall in the Department of Corrections for this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and $40 million would then be diverted from the fund to DOC for the next three years.
“Opioid settlement dollars are meant to save lives and support communities dealing with the ongoing fentanyl crisis, not to backfill a massive budget deficit created by irresponsible GOP fiscal policies,” Mayes said.
She said she would sue if the Legislature moves forward with the plan, saying that it could put all of the $1.14 billion in opioid money “in legal jeopardy.”
Lawmakers got their first look at the budget deal on Tuesday, and the 16-bill package was heard in committees on Thursday. GOP leadership was hoping to finish business Friday, but work slowed as negotiations on amendments continued behind closed doors well into the afternoon.
Most state agencies are facing budget cuts, with reduced funding for road projects, senior services, community colleges and more.
The widening of Interstate 10 in Buckeye to add traffic lanes between State Route 85 and Citrus Road is one of those cuts. John Rader, Buckeye’s intergovernmental affairs coordinator, said the $108 million project is important to the city.
"It's a significant investment for the state of Arizona,” he said. “I think we recognize it's a difficult project to maintain, and certainly in the FY25 budget."
