By Reagan Priest | AZ Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Hobbs vetoed the $17.9 billion Republican budget, calling it unworkable
- The deadlock centers on federal tax conformity and Proposition 123
- With the Legislature recessing until June, a resolution could be far off
Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the $17.9 billion budget proposal crafted by legislative Republicans, calling it “unbalanced and reckless.”
The governor’s veto caps off a nearly two month-long budget battle that began on March 20 when Hobbs, a Democrat, called off negotiations after Republicans in the Legislature signalled an unwillingness to extend the education funding measure Proposition 123. Hobbs urged Republicans to publicly produce a budget plan and instituted a bill moratorium on April 13 to pressure them into doing so.
In a veto letter sent to the Legislature on May 5, Hobbs said the Republican proposal would bring “Washington-style chaos and dysfunction to Arizona’s budget.”
“With it, Arizona would default on our debt obligations, endanger vulnerable children, slash critical public safety funding, and pay for tax breaks to billionaires, data centers and special interests by kicking Arizonans off their healthcare and taking food off their tables,” Hobbs wrote.
