Weekly Legislative Reports

Legislative economists provided more detail on the state’s budget deficit this week, explaining the factors that have led to a $1.7 billion shortfall over the next two years. Some revenues have dropped quickly – like corporate income taxes, which grew by a significant 250% in the last three years but are expected to fall 8.5% this year. Legislative advisors have watched the slow decline of others for months.

State agencies are at the center of attention at the legislature again this year, as Republican lawmakers emphasize their oversight role of executive departments that will expire in state statute without legislative action.

At the end of the first week of the 2024 legislative session, Arizona lawmakers have introduced more than 750 proposals they hope to enact in the next few months. The ideas range from big changes, like how to regulate short-term rentals and gas blends, to less impactful concepts like designating Pluto as the official state planet of Arizona.

A familiar scene unfolded at the Capitol this week: Republicans rolled out a budget package they negotiated behind closed doors with the Governor, fast-tracking it through committee hearings and passing it over objections from Democrats who felt left out of the discussions. But this year was different. Republicans no longer hold the Governor’s office, and it was months of private negotiations between Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs that crafted the proposal introduced on Monday. Legislative Democrats expected to have a bigger role to play in shaping the budget under the new Governor, and as the budget bills became public, they decried the process, their lack of input, and their priorities that weren’t included in the final budget – like a limit to enrollment in Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs).

Arizona legislators spent just a few hours in floor sessions this week before adjourning until Monday. The Senate gave broad bipartisan support to a bill that allows AHCCCS to spend its federal funding through June, ensuring continued operations of the agency after partisan budget disputes suspended funding authority last month. Governor Hobbs signed the bill on Thursday, calling on the legislature to also confirm her nominee to lead AHCCCS and pass a bill that continues the agency in state statute.

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol for an abbreviated work week, spending a total of seven hours in floor sessions before adjourning until next Wednesday. Much of that time was consumed by debates about Bibles and tamales. During its short floor session on Tuesday, the Senate gave preliminary approval to bills that create new resources and oversight for Natural Resource Conservation Districts, criminalize owning a child sex doll, limit transgender access to women’s shelters, and exempt Arizona firearms from federal laws.