PHOENIX - Gov. Katie Hobbs is using nearly $16.5 million she says is leftover in COVID funds to restore the funding cuts made earlier this year to state universities.
In a press release late Tuesday, the Democratic governor did not dispute she agreed in June to the $18.3 billion spending plan negotiated with Republican lawmakers. That plan included a 2.5% across-the-board cut across multiple state agencies, including the universities.
But now Hobbs said she has federal dollars left over from $4.2 billion allocated to the state in 2021 as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Those dollars were designed to assist state and local governments in addressing the impacts of the pandemic.
