Hobbs vetoes two GOP-backed state spending plans

PHOENIX — Calling them “reckless and partisan,’’ Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed two separate Republican-backed state spending plans Wednesday, saying they would short-change Arizonans.

The Democratic governor’s actions came just hours after the Senate, on a party-line vote, ratified two separate budgets crafted by the House. One called for $17.3 billion in spending; a second, dubbed a “contingency budget,” had a $17 billion price tag.

But the Senate vote for the House measures was actually political theater, occurring with the full knowledge that Hobbs would nix both plans.

The Senate earlier this month had put out its own $17.6 billion spending plan negotiated with the governor, which had bipartisan support.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro refused to even allow a hearing on that plan, instead pursuing his chamber’s all-GOP plan.

But it was widely understood that once Hobbs vetoed the two House proposals, that would force House Republicans to work with not just the Republican-controlled Senate but with Hobbs to craft something she would sign.

In fact, because the vetoes were a foregone conclusion, those closed-door negotiations already are taking place.

Time is of the essence. The fiscal year ends Monday, June 30, and without a budget in place, most state agencies would have to close.

Senate President Warren Petersen made it clear he was angry with members of his own Republican Party who leveled accusations that he was a RINO — a Republican In Name Only — because he voted for the $17.6 billion spending plan. He said he recognizes that nothing gets approved without the consent of the Democratic governor.

“It doesn’t take competence or courage to pass a budget that only has R’s on it because that is how you live and achieve and score short-term political points,’’ Petersen said. “It takes leadership, competence and courage to pass a bipartisan budget in divided government.’’

Still, he conceded that opposition from some GOP lawmakers and their allies has roiled some party faithful.

“With the help of shock jocks and troll farms you can fool some of the people some of the time,’’ Petersen said. “People publish things they would never dare say in person, especially when done with unaccountable anonymity.”

Montenegro, who shepherded both of the now-vetoed all-Republican plans through his chamber and voted for them, declined to comment on Petersen’s comments.

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But he was unapologetic for supporting the plans with less spending. He said they reflect concerns that the state simply won’t have the revenues to support the larger budget negotiated between the Senate and the governor.

“We can’t spend the state into oblivion,’’ Montenegro said.

Now, he said, with the governor’s vetoes and the House plans dead, there is a need to talk — especially with the June 30 deadline. Moreover, a number of lawmakers who would be expected to support whatever deal is reached may not be available after Thursday.

“We want to make sure that government doesn’t shut down,’’ he told Capitol Media Services. “We will always be ready for conversations. I will always be available for sitting down and figuring things out.’’

Hobbs, in her veto messages, said her actions should come as no surprise.

In January, she laid out her own $17.65 billion proposed spending plan.

“From day one of the budget process, I have worked with leaders of both parties in both chambers to craft a bipartisan, balanced, and fiscally responsible budget,’’ she wrote. “Unfortunately, House Republicans abdicated their responsibility and refused to meaningfully participate in the budget process.’’

That refusal was no accident, Hobbs said.

“Now they are attempting to leverage the threat of a government shutdown to force through a reckless and partisan budget that raises costs, harms businesses, and makes our state less secure,’’ she wrote.

She particularly criticized House Republicans for their $17 billion contingency budget, one that essentially would have kept state spending at current levels with minor adjustments. Montenegro said it was designed to give more time for negotiations.

The concept is not unique. Congress enacts “continuing resolutions’’ when its members are unable to reach a spending deal when the federal fiscal year ends.

But one key difference is that what Arizona House Republicans were pushing had no expiration date. And given that many GOP lawmakers were happy with a $17 billion “contingency budget,’’ there might have been no pressure to negotiate something different.

What that would have meant, said Hobbs, is eliminating things in the plan she negotiated with the Senate, including more funding for universities, community colleges and K-12 schools, plans to help homeless veterans, and pay raises for state firefighters and troopers.

“The president of the State Troopers Association put it plainly enough: If this ($17 billion) budget passes and you need rescuing, ‘Don’t call DPS. Rangers won’t respond,’ ‘’ the governor wrote.