By Howard Fischer
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PHOENIX — Calling them “reckless and partisan,” Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed not one but two separate Republican-backed spending plans Wednesday, saying the provisions in both would short-change Arizonans.

The governor’s action came just hours after the Senate, on a party-line vote, ratified two separate budgets that had been crafted by the House. One called for a $17.3 billion in spending; a second, dubbed a “contingency budget,” had a $17 billion price tag.

But the Senate vote for the House measures occurred with the full knowledge Hobbs would nix both plans.

The Senate earlier this month put out its own $17.6 billion spending plan that had been negotiated with the governor that had bipartisan support.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro refused to allow a hearing on that plan, instead pursuing their all-GOP plan.

But it was widely understood once Hobbs vetoed the two House proposals that would force House Republicans to work with not just the Senate but the Democratic governor to craft something she would sign.

In fact, with the vetoes a foregone conclusions, those closed-door negotiations already are taking place.

Time is of the essence given that the fiscal year ends June 30. Without a budget in place, most state agencies would have to close.

Senate President Warren Petersen made it clear he was angry with members of his own Republican Party who had leveled accusations that he was a RINO — a Republican In Name Only — because he voted for the $17.6 billion spending plan, saying he recognizes nothing gets approved without the consent of the Democratic governor.

“It doesn’t take competence or courage to pass a budget that only has Rs on it because that is how you live and achieve and score short-term political points,” Petersen said.

Still, he conceded opposition from some GOP lawmakers and their allies has roiled some party faithful.

“With the help of shock jocks and troll farms you can fool some of the people some of the time,” Petersen said. “It takes leadership, competence and courage to pass a bipartisan budget in divided government.”

House Speaker Steve Montenegro, who shepherded both of the now-vetoed plans through his chamber, was unapologetic for supporting the plans with less spending. He said it reflects concerns the state simply won’t have the revenue to support the larger budget negotiated between the Senate and the governor.

“We can’t spend the state into oblivion,” Montenegro said.

But the Goodyear Republican said now, with the vetoes, there is a need to talk — especially with the June 30 deadline.

“We want to make sure that government doesn’t shut down,” he told Capitol Media Services.

“We will always be ready for conversations,” Montenegro continued. “I will always be available for sitting down and figuring things out.”

The deadline is even earlier than Monday: A number of lawmakers who would be expected to support whatever deal is reached may not be available after Thursday.

Hobbs, in her veto messages, said her actions should come as no surprise.
In January she laid out her own $17.65 billion spending plan.

"From day one of the budget process, I have worked with leaders of both parties in both chambers to craft a bipartisan, balanced, and fiscally responsible budget," she wrote. "Unfortunately, House Republicans abdicated their responsibility and refused to meaningfully participate in the budget process."

That refusal, said Hobbs, was no accident.

"Now they are attempting to leverage the threat of a government shutdown to force through a reckless and partisan budget that raises costs, harms businesses, and makes our state less secure," she wrote.

She took a particular slap at House Republicans for its $17 billion contingency budget, one that essentially would have kept state spending at current levels with minor adjustments, one Montenegro said was designed to give more time for negotiations.

The concept is not unique. Congress enacts "continuing resolutions'' when its members are unable to reach a spending deal when the federal fiscal year ends.

One key difference is what House Republicans were pushing had no expiration date. Given that many GOP lawmakers were happy with a $17 billion "contingency budget," there might be no pressure to negotiate something different.

What that would have meant, said Hobbs, is eliminating things in the plan she negotiated with the Senate, including more funding for universities, community colleges and K-12 schools, plans to help homeless veterans, and pay raises for state firefighters and DPS troopers.

"The president of the State Troopers Association put it plainly enough: If this ($17 billion) budget passes and you need rescuing, 'Don't call DPS. Rangers won't respond,'" the governor wrote.