IN FOCUS - May 23, 2025

It’s Memorial Day Weekend - do you know where your Arizona Legislature is?

For starters, nowhere near a budget deal. Or the State Capitol. 

Lawmakers are currently on hiatus, with the Senate scheduled to return to legislative business next week and the House out until June 4. The mid-session break is due to a dearth of non-appropriation bills remaining that still await legislative action.

GOP legislative leaders have signaled that any referral to extend Proposition 123 will likely have to wait until next year. That leaves a renovation funding plan for Chase Field and the State budget package as the biggest to-do items left for lawmakers.

And the clock is ticking. By the time the House returns, there will be 19 business days left in the fiscal year - traditionally viewed as the deadline for the Governor and lawmakers to approve a budget.

The budgetary brinkmanship is pretty typical, with the State spending package often the last thing lawmakers complete before adjourning the session. In 2024, legislators approved a budget on June 15 and went home for the year. The previous year, 2023, was much more unusual - legislators and Governor Hobbs reached a budget deal in May but kept working on other matters until July 31!