By Howard Fischer
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PHOENIX - State government will not shut down Monday night.

On a 40-16 vote, the state House late Thursday approved a nearly $17.6 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins Tuesday morning. That is virtually identical to the deal Senate Republicans worked out with Gov. Katie Hobbs.

On Friday, the Senate is set to ratify a few last-minute changes made by the House, sending the package to the governor who is expected to sign it.

Most immediately, the deal means that there is no longer a threat that state employees would be laid off, schools wouldn't get their funds and state parks would shutter just ahead of the July 4 holiday. That was a possibility given that the current authority to spend money expires on Monday night.

It really wasn't the budget that House Republicans wanted.

They had approved a $17.3 billion budget. Plus, their plan included some things on the GOP wish list, like stricter checks of eligibility for food stamps and health care, a 2.5% cut in resident tuition at state universities and a ban on subsidizing university tuition for those not in this country legally.

All those, however, proved unacceptable to the Democratic governor. And, in the end, House Speaker Steve Montenegro said he and other members of his caucus had to recognize the political reality of the situation.

"We are in a divided government,'' the Goodyear Republican said. "And the reality is we have to find a way to work together.''

But Montenegro said it would be wrong to conclude that the Republicans in the House, what with that potential government shutdown looming, simply agreed to go along.

"We are holding the line on spending,'' he said.

In fact, though, the House managed to decrease the size of the spending plan approved by the Senate and the governor by just $30 million.

Montenegro, however, preferred to claim a $100 million reduction. That, however, will be over the next three budget years - assuming the spending is not changed by future lawmakers.

What also probably helped force a deal was that looming deadline.

"I think the most important thing that Republicans are doing is making sure the state functions and that we don't have a shutdown and we don't have layoffs,'' said Rep. David Livingston.

The Peoria Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee was a key critic of the deal the governor negotiated with Senate Republicans. But in the end, Livingston said this was as good a budget as House Republicans were going to get and that there was not a better deal to be had, "not with this governor.''

House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos had his own spin on what brought House Republicans around.

He pointed out that the House GOP adopted two spending plans, one at $17.3 million and the other, a "continuation budget'' to stretch out negotiations, of just $17 million. Both were vetoed by the governor.

"The House Republicans have thrown not one but two tantrums, gotten it out of their system and see that they don't run this place individually and have to work in a bipartisan manner,'' the Laveen Democrat said.

Some Republicans, however, argued that their leadership caved in too easily to what the governor and her fellow Democrats demanded.

One is a provision that Rep. Alexander Kolodin said would provide Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes with up to $17 million that would go to "progressive'' non-government organizations to help get people registered to vote.

"In other words, we as a Republican body are funding the Left's 2026 campaign,'' said the Scottsdale Republican.

Other lawmakers complained that what was approved Thursday night did not include priorities that were in their earlier $17.3 billion budget plan, having been jettisoned to make a deal with the governor.

That included Rep. Justin Olson who sought to require the state's Medicaid program to do additional screening of applicants, including monthly checks to determine eligibility and even requiring the Department of Revenue to report those who have won more than $3,000 in the Arizona Lottery. The Mesa Republican said such measures are necessary because the new spending plan approved Thursday night is $1.4 billion above the current budget.

"That is not a sustainable rate,'' he said. "What better way to be good stewards of our tax dollars than to root out waste, fraud, and abuse?''

But it wasn't just Republicans unhappy with the package.

Seven of the 27 Democrats in the House also refused to go along. And it wasn't just about their beliefs that there should have been more spending in the plan.

Rep. Alma Hernandez complained about the budget setting aside more than $24.7 million for the Gang and Immigration Team Enforcement Mission, including  almost $12.9 million for the Department of Public Safety for  "strictly enforcing'' federal immigration laws, helping county sheriffs and attorneys to investigate those who employ illegal aliens, and even enforcing some remaining provisions of SB 1070, a controversial 2010 law, that allows police to question those they have stopped about their immigration status.

"My morals and my values cannot allow me to support the terrorizing of my community,'' the Tucson Democrat said. "So, shame on any Democrats who supported including that language.''

As it turns out, though, that exact same language was in the budget lawmakers approved last year for the current fiscal year.  Hernandez acknowledged that but told Capitol Media Services "we are not living in the same times,'' citing the new emphasis on raids and deportations in the Trump administration.

De Los Santos said he, too, saw the language. But he said he has been assured by the governor's staff it all those dollars will be used for gang enforcement - and none to help enforce immigration laws.''

On the flip side, De Los Santos said there are a lot of good things in the package for Democrats.

"This budget delivers for public school students, protects Medicaid and expands health care for cancer patients and tribal members,'' he said. "It also makes the biggest investment in 10 years in reducing childcare costs.''

Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, who voted for the budget told Republicans they, too, have to look at the wins for their party. That specifically includes not just funds for immigration enforcement - the very thing that bothered Hernandez - but also protects the system of universal vouchers that allows all parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private or parochial schools as well as home school their youngsters, a program whose costs are now approaching $1 billion a year.

And she reminded the nine Republicans who refused to support the package of the political reality of the situation - and not just the need to deal with a Democratic governor.

"I do not believe in shutting down the government because DPS doesn't get paid, our teachers don't get paid, nobody's going to be at our parks for Fourth of July,'' Martinez said.

"There are so many ramifications of shutting down the government,'' she said. “And none of them are good. And it blows my mind that people would rather shut down the government and hurt millions of people for politics.''

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