Delays on Arizona state budget

The state budget has experienced some delays in working on its completion, as a 40-day deadline looms to avoid a government shutdown.

The delays on completing the state budget include uncertainty over state tax revenue and the extension of Proposition 123. However, Republican legislators and Governor Katie Hobbs and her staff have begun talks to work toward completing the state budget.

State Senator T.J. Shope (R), District 16, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the creation of the new state budget.

Addressing the breaks the legislature is taking while budget negotiations are on-going, Senator Shope explained it was a matter of not having much to do at the capitol itself. “I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about what a break actually is,” Senator Shope said. 

“A break essentially means we’ve reached the end of the available bills to be voted on at this point and time, and rather than have members drive in 6 hours away from the Navajo Nation or 5 hours away from Sierra Vista to just come in and do the pledge of allegiance, pray and then adjourn for the day, we’re let them go ahead and stay home, so that way we can figure out what we want to have in the budget and go negotiate with the House and the governor’s office.”

As for disagreements between House Republicans and Senate Republicans on the budget, Senator Shope said the issues were more about how each chamber is crafting their budget proposals, not a matter of policy disagreements. “Are there probably issues that we disagree with on line-by-line basises? Absolutely,” Senator Shope said. 

“However, I think the approaches have been a little bit different. The Senate, as you’ve seen over the last two years, has really taken to a member driven concept. Where members come in with their priorities, and the leadership flows from a bottom-up if you will. From the backbench to the leadership team. Whereas, I think the House has sought to maybe return to a leadership driven budget.”

Despite a lack of a full budget proposal yet, Senator Shope remains hopeful the process will reach its conclusion sooner than later. “At the end of the day, we come together and we approach the governor’s office as we have been doing this week,” Senator Shope said. “And I look forward to the white smoke being hatched in the next week or two.”