Just in time for the Fourth of July, Gov. Katie Hobbs should put up a sign at Slide Rock and Red Rock state parks and on the voicemail of the Department of Public Safety and AHCCCS, which insures roughly one in every four state residents or 2 million people:
Closed. For more information, contact House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, (602) 926-3635.
Montenegro is the guy who is so terrified of Sen. Jake Hoffman and his hard right Arizona Freedom Caucus that he’s ready to shut down state government rather than approve a budget negotiated by Senate Republicans and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Negotiations in which House GOP leaders refused to negotiate.
Even supporters in the House have changed their tune
Several people close to the situation tell me the House votes were there last week to pass the $17.6 billion budget.House Appropriations Chairman David Livingston on June 18 predicted the Hobbs-Senate budget would pick up support from as many as 31 of the 60-member chamber’s 33 Republicans.
“We have a lot of good things in there for members,” he told Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer.
Then on June 19, as the Senate was passing the bills and Hoffman was on the losing end of every vote, the House abruptly adjourned for the weekend.
Montenegro announced the House votes weren’t there.
“The House is not going to be forced into a take-it-or-leave-it deal that doesn’t reflect the will of ourmembers or the people we represent,” he announced on the afternoon of June 20, after a three-hour closed caucus. “We will do what responsible legislators should do: take action to keep government running and protect Arizona taxpayers.”
Even Rep. Livingston has changed his tune, lambasting the staunchly conservative Senate President Warren Petersen for daring to embrace the reality of divided government and negotiate with Hobbs on a budget — a budget that just a day earlier he had praised as containing “a lot of good things” for Republicans.
“The Governor, with the help of RINO Senate President, is pushing a Democrat Budget,” he said late on June 19, as the Senate passed its bill and announced it was adjourning for the year.
The holdup: House speaker is terrified of Sen. Hoffman
House speaker Steve Montenegro presides over the start of the 57th legislative session on Jan. 13, 2025, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Montenegro is now proposing a skinned-down budget to prevent a shutdown and “give us the time we need to continue negotiations.”
I’m not sure what there is to negotiate in July that couldn’t have been negotiated in May and June, when House GOP leaders refused to come to the table.
Instead, House Republicans went it alone and produced their own $17.3 billion budget — guaranteed veto bait given the cuts to education and AHCCCS.
Meanwhile, the Hobbs-Senate $17.6 billion budget increased funding for education and border security and gave pay raises to state police and firefighters, a bonus to corrections officers and $5 million to every Senate Republican who supported the budget, to spend in their districts or otherwise as they see fit.
Opinion: Call the doctor. Some GOP lawamkers just got run over
So, what happened?
One word: Hoffman.
Multiple sources tell me he’s the shadow speaker, the puppeteer pulling Montenegro’s strings. That Montenegro is terrified of being removed as speaker, so he caved to the Freedom Caucus, which Sen. Hoffman chairs.
They’d rather stop services than approve the budget
Hoffman’s No.1 goal at the Capitol is to hobble Hobbs. It has been from the moment she was elected.
Because really, what’s more important? Ensuring the smooth operation of state government or making Hobbs look bad to improve Republican Rep. Andy Biggs’ odds of knocking her off next year?
Something to ponder as you rush to get that Real ID driver’s license before you fly this summer or find yourself in need of a state highway trooper or help from the Department of Economic Security.
Something to ponder as wildfires — the kind that happen outside the state Capitol — ignite.
Starting July 1, the state of Arizona will be closed for business.
If you need help, call 1-800-MONTENEGRO.
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsazon Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @laurieroberts.bsky.social.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona is a week from shutdown if House refuses budget deal | Opinion
