By Bob Christie | Capitol Media Services
Key Points:
- Arizona has less than 40 days to complete a state budget before a government shutdown
- One reason for budget delay is uncertainty over state tax revenue
- Despite habitual partisan disagreement, lawmakers they are on the same page
With a hard deadline of just over a month before the Arizona government shuts down without a new state budget, Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs — or at least her staff — are finally talking.
The long delay has put pressure on both sides to hammer out a deal quickly.
At the heart of the delay, and the start of negotiations, has been the extension of Proposition 123.
The 2016 voter-approved ballot referral was designed to raise teachers’ salaries by tapping about $300 million more a year from the state land trust. It expires this year, but GOP lawmakers decided last week to wait until 2026 to send any Prop. 123 extension to the voters.
