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PHOENIX - Gov. Katie Hobbs has outdone herself, setting a record Wednesday with her veto of two budget proposals.
Hobbs has now rejected 160 of the measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature so far this session. That bests the record she herself set in 2023, her first year in office, when she wielded her veto stamp 143 times and blew past the prior record of 58 vetoes set in 2005 by fellow Democrat Janet Napolitano.
What helped the current governor blow past her own record was the fact that each of the two budget proposals she vetoed consisted of 14 separate bills. That enabled her to add 28 to her prior tally of 140.
By contrast, the latest figures show she has signed 221 measures sent to her this year. Put another way, she has rejected close to four out of every 10 bills that has reached her desk.
The governor has never been apologetic for the frequent use of her veto stamp, saying it's not her fault
"You'll have to ask the Republicans why they keep sending me the same bills that I've already vetoed,'' she said when asked about her actions. And then there's the politics of being a Democrat in a state where Republicans control the House and Senate.
"I think there's some intent to make it look like I'm being the obstructionist by sending the same things over and over again,'' Hobbs said. And there have been repeats, such as efforts to legislate who can use which restrooms and what pronoun teachers can use when referring to students whose identity does not match the sex assigned at birth.
The governor said she has been willing to work with anyone on crucial issues like border security and water security.
She is backing a bipartisan bill - even over objections of some fellow Democrats - to allow farmers to "retire'' their land and sell their water rights to developers so they can build more homes. And the governor agreed to support a Republican measure, modeled after ideas floated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., to ban the use of artificial colors in food served at public schools.
But Hobbs made it clear there's another role she has as the ultimate decider of legislation.
"I will also continue to be a backstop against bills that strip away Arizonans' freedoms, that don't solve problems, and that are just flat-out extreme,'' she said.
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