Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said on April 17 that she would not sign any legislation until Republican lawmakers passed a massive spending bill affecting 60,000 disabled Arizonans.
Hobbs’s moratorium is a counter to House Republicans introducing HB2945, a bill denying Hobbs more funding for Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities program, and instead reallocates funds already under her control.
On April 3, a Republican-formed committee learned at its first meeting that the Hobbs Administration was $122 million short on its budget for fiscal year 2025, jeopardizing the DDD program.
The House Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement alleged that Hobbs — without approval from the Legislature — expanded the disabilities program by making a temporary COVID policy permanent, among other allegations. The COVID program paid parents to provide care to their own disabled children, according to a House Republican news release.
$122 million later, Hobbs wants Republican lawmakers to pass a supplemental funding bill to cover the deficit that her policies reportedly created.
“This crisis didn’t happen overnight,” said Republican House Speaker Steve Montenegro in a news release. “The Hobbs administration expanded programs in DDD without legislative approval and delayed or ignored key program limitations. They now want taxpayers to bail them out — without a plan to fix it.”
The DDD program serves nearly 60,000 vulnerable Arizonans, including children and adults with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and other disabilities.
If Hobbs doesn’t get her way, the DDD program will shut down May 1, leaving disabled Arizonans without the services they’ve come to depend on.
“What our message has been along is, we want to be responsible,” Republican House Speaker Steve Montenegro said. “We’ve got families expecting these funds. And we will pass a bill that funds these vulnerable communities.”
“We said we’re going to do a full supplemental. However, we want to make sure there are safeguards in this supplemental to make sure this doesn’t happen again. These families deserve stability,” he added.
The Republican House bill, without raising taxes or increasing spending, would reallocate unused or mismanaged funds that are already under Hobbs’s control. Those include: $38 million from the Housing Trust Fund, $10 million from the Arizona Commerce Authority Competes Fund and $74 million from the Prescription Drug Rebate Fund.
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