Arizona Republicans Set to Pass Budget Without Governor's Input

Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature is moving forward with its own state budget plan, setting up another potential standoff with Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.

Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh (R-AZ) and House Appropriations Committee Chair David Livingston (R-AZ) announced this week that Republicans will introduce their spending proposal and hold votes on it without first negotiating with Gov. Hobbs.

They say they have enough Republican votes to pass it without any Democratic support.

"She's got it. This is the budget," Arizona Daily Star reported Kavanagh said of the governor's request to see the Republican plan.

The Republican's $17.8 billion proposal is about $900 million leaner than Hobbs' $18.7 billion plan she released back in January.

Livingston described it as a "skinny budget," one that sticks closely to last year's spending levels, adjusted for inflation, without adding many new programs.

To cover costs, Republicans plan to tap special state accounts and make agency cuts.

Priorities

The biggest priority for Republicans is something called "tax conformity," essentially updating Arizona's tax laws to match federal tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed into law.

Livingston argued this is urgent because the state's own tax forms already reflected those changes when millions of Arizonans filed their returns in April.

However, the Republican's plan does not include several items Hobbs pushed for, including new utility assistance for low-income residents, expanded child care funding, and new taxes on short-term rentals and sports betting that she proposed to raise revenue.

Hobbs had previously threatened to veto every bill sent to her desk until Republicans shared their budget and agreed to real negotiations. Her office has not yet confirmed whether that threat still stands now that a plan has been released.

Despite the tension, Livingston left the door slightly open for future talks.

"If the Governor's team and Governor Hobbs want to negotiate with us and do amendments, I think we're open to that," he said.

What happens next remains uncertain. If Hobbs vetoes the Republican budget, Arizona could head into its new fiscal year on July 1, 2026, without a finalized spending plan, a scenario that would affect funding for programs that millions of residents depend on every day.