Republican reaction to Governor Katie Hobbs' budget was nearly universal. They hated it.
"Let me preface my remarks by saying it was a very brief briefing," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman John Kavanagh said after attending a budget briefing with other Republican lawmakers on Friday. "It seems like it was directed more at the Democratic base than the Republican conservative legislature which she has to negotiate with on a budget," Kavanagh said.
Governor Hobbs' $17.1 billion includes the repeal of school voucher expansion and spending $273.7 million in new K-12 investments.
The budget would scrap the Border Strike Force, reallocating $12.2 million to provide grants to law enforcement in border communities.
The budget also dedicates a record $150 million to the state's housing trust fund. "It's up to Republican leadership to see if they're going to pay attention to the direction that Arizona voters want us to govern," House Minority Leader Andres Cano said.
Republicans don't seem inclined to follow the new governor's lead. On Twitter, House Speaker Ben Toma and Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham said the Hobbs budget was "Dead on Arrival." Senate President Warren Petersen tweeted, "It's not the time to go woke with our budget."
"The legislation takes 31-16 and 1. But the one is really important," said Republican political consultant Wes Gullett, who was Chief of Staff for Governor Fife Symington.
Gullett believes the days of his party big footing a legislative agenda is over, at least for the next four years. "Everything goes through the governor's office. So, there's going to be a learning curve for the Republicans and Governor Hobbs is going to lead and she has the bully pulpit," Gullett said.
Republicans say they want to pass a budget that continues funding at current levels. The only increases to spending in the Republican proposal are formulaic and deal with rising costs or caseloads. "With the state of the national economy in limbo, a continuation budget is the fiscally prudent, conservative approach for Arizona to safeguard essential governmental services," House Republican leaders said.
On Tuesday, members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will get an explanation on what the Governor is proposing.
