By Nathan Brown | Arizona Capitol Times
The Arizona House ended the week seemingly no closer to passing a budget than it had been before, after a single Republican joined with the Democrats on June 7 to kill the two tax cut bills that are the centerpiece of the GOP leadership’s budget proposal.
With no deal, and with Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, calling for a smaller tax cut than the $1.9 billion proposal supported by the rest of his caucus, one possibility being considered is passing a “skinny budget” – similar to what lawmakers passed last year as they rushed to finish the session due to Covid – to continue funding the government and avert a partial shutdown on July 1.
“That’s something I think is a very real possibility,” House Majority Leader Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said June 10.
This would mean passing something that would keep funding the government but would not include new spending or policy changes or the proposal to phase in a flat income tax rate Toma and other Republican leaders want. It could mean passing a basic budget, then coming back later in the year in special session to try to do something more.
