Arizona governor caps off quarrelsome legislative session with budget approval

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed on Friday a bipartisan budget that boosts pay for first responders and increases spending on social services, capping a quarrelsome session of the Republican-led Legislature that brought the state to the brink of a government shutdown.

The first-term Democrat broke her veto record, sparred with Republicans over agency leadership nominations and got on board with bipartisan proposals that ruffled the feathers of some members of her party. The session unfolded while Hobbs’ 2026 bid to hold the reins of the battleground state loomed large.

Hobbs began the session with an uphill climb, confronting expanded Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Arizona is one of eight states where the governor’s office and legislature are controlled by opposing parties.

Hobbs’ office chose to negotiate on just a handful of issues this session, including water policy, funding for some of Arizona’s most vulnerable residents and renovations to a stadium used by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Budget barbs

The Legislature sent the governor a $17.6 billion budget after GOP lawmakers traded barbs with each other and Hobbs’ office. The Senate approved one version, but it lacked votes in the House, leaving lawmakers in that chamber to introduce a measure meant to keep state operations running while negotiations continued.

On Wednesday, Hobbs vetoed the proposal favored by House Republicans and the continuation measure, calling them partisan and reckless.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro introduced amendments to the budget proposal Thursday, and the chamber passed it that night, clearing the way for the Senate to sign off.

Border security

Hobbs indicated last fall that she was willing to work with the Trump administration on border security issues like stopping fentanyl trafficking and followed up in January calling the Laken Riley Act “an important step forward” in a post on the social platform X. The act requires detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crime. Hobbs’ stance drew praise from GOP Senate President Warren Petersen, while members of her own party criticized the measure.

She signed an required local and state officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan, a Democrat, said her caucus pushed Hobbs to limit spending on border support, saying it had “drawn a hard line” and planned to withhold votes on the state budget until the border funding was reduced.

Senate Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Catherine Miranda, who voted against the budget, said last week that she could not support a budget that has language that opens the door to immigration enforcement.

“And while I know that Gov. Hobbs has promised she will not use the Local Border Support Fund to enforce immigrant laws, the language included in a bill has as much impact as the actual policy implementation,” Miranda said.

Progressive lobbyist Marilyn Rodriguez said she would have liked to see Hobbs take a less hawkish posture on border security.

Despite some frustrations, House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos said the budget delivers on priorities that include public education, Medicaid and expanded health care for certain patients.

“We also make big investments to bring down the cost of childcare and make college tuition free for Arizona’s students from working families,” he said in a statement.

Hardball with Republicans

Hobbs is no stranger to the veto pen, which she has wielded to knock down what she considers proposals that are out of touch with the state’s purple electorate. This year, she vetoed about 170 bills, including an attempt to speed up the counting of ballots.

She’s repeatedly accused state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who chairs the Legislature’s Freedom Caucus, for politicizing the confirmations of her agency head nominees.

Her fight with Republicans over funding for a state agency that provides services for some of Arizona’s most vulnerable residents led to a moratorium on bill signing, and she has criticized Republicans for hitting the breaks on a proposal that could have led to increased regulation of groundwater pumping in rural areas of the drought-stricken state.

Hobbs has said she’d take action on the water front in the absence of a legislative deal, which could set up another round of sparring with Republican lawmakers as she prepares to seek another term.

With no Democratic challenger, Hobbs is expected to face either Karrin Taylor Robson or U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who are both endorsed by the president.

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