Overview
- The budget deal, announced Tuesday between Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Katie Hobbs, was released as a 16‑bill package and cleared a joint Appropriations hearing ahead of final House and Senate votes this week.
- The plan fully conforms Arizona law to President Donald Trump’s H.R.1 tax changes, delivers about $1.45 billion in tax relief over four years, and prevents taxpayers from having to refile returns.
- Most state agencies face a roughly 2.5% operating cut while the budget adds targeted increases, including $112 million for corrections, $58 million for child safety, $25.5 million for county support and reentry, $10 million for wildfire suppression, and $4.3 million for rural hospitals.
- The package imposes a three‑year moratorium on new sales‑tax exemptions for data centers while allowing construction to continue and it expands verification and staffing for SNAP and AHCCCS to implement federal changes that have already reduced benefits for many Arizonans.
- Lawmakers signaled little room for major changes before final passage, leaving open disputes over smaller line items such as funding for developmental‑disability oversight and adult education and marking a compromise that follows Gov. Hobbs' earlier veto of a deeper‑cut GOP budget.