Arizona Legislature: House, Senate pass budget, adjourn sine die — but lawsuit threat lingers

Saturday proved to be D-Day for the state budget, after consideration of the $16.1 billion budget proposal.

Lawmakers passed a bipartisan, 16-bill package negotiated by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and GOP legislative leaders that saves $1.4 billion from the current budget and the pending one, which starts July 1.

To do that, the proposed budget also seeks savings by cutting programs and delaying projects for several years. The plan calls for the proverbial hunting for the change in the couch cushions by swiping money from numerous state funds.

But that could land the state in hot water legally. Watch this space.

Follow live coverage from Republic reporters as the Legislature grapples with a billion-dollar budget deficit.

Senate passes budget; Legislature adjourns sine die. But lawsuit threat lingers

Shortly after the House finished its work and adjourned for the session, the Senate followed suit. The chamber officially adjourned sine die at 10:10 p.m.

But a threat still remains to the budget: Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes indicated she will sue the Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs over a budgetary mechanism that takes $75 million from an opioid settlement to help the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry cover its costs next year stemming from a settlement over inadequate health care. The budget proposes pulling another $40 million a year for three years after that.

Mayes says that move is illegal and opens the state up to litigation from her office, the feds and opioid manufacturers. Still, the budget that lawmakers passed Saturday includes that provision. A spokesperson for Mayes indicated she's weighing her options.

"The attorney general stands by her earlier comments and will do everything in her power to prevent the Legislature and Governor from using these funds contrary to the settlement agreements," spokesperson Richie Taylor said. "Our office will be analyzing the best legal course of action from here."

Final act: House approves budget money bill

On a 34-21 vote, the House approved the "feed bill" that will fund a $16.1 billion budget for next year and erase a two-year deficit of $1.4 billion. Shortly after 8:45 p.m., the chamber adjourned for the year.

The final passage of the bill came on a bipartisan vote amid a general agreement that the spending plan was not perfect but had enough benefits to merit support. Critics were either disappointed or disgusted, complaining the budget process was broken, while others said it fell short of helping Arizona's schools, the disenfranchised and the elderly.

Supporters highlighted positive aspects of the budget, such as $15 million for housing and slightly increased funding for schools.

Earlier, the state Senate made short work of most of the budget-related bills on voice votes, passing them with bipartisan support that likely foreshadows how they will vote when a formal vote is taken later this evening.

While Democrats said they were standing strong, their caucus split in its votes on bills ranging from K-12 to taxation. Sens. Lela Alston and Flavio Bravo of Phoenix voted in support of all of the bills, joined occasionally by several of their colleagues.

The same thing happened with Republicans: Freedom Caucus members Sens. Anthony Kern and Justine Wadsack were consistent "no" votes, as was Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott.

Bennett said his votes were a protest of Gov. Katie Hobbs' refusal to agree to $2 million for "election verification" procedures. Bennett, a former secretary of state, said the procedures could help quell voter skepticism about election results, especially given some of the expected tight races that are likely to happen in Arizona this year.

He has been a supporter of making ballot images public after votes have been counted, giving people an opportunity to tally results for themselves. Alternatively, Arizona could follow the lead of blue states such as Maryland, which uses a third-party vendor to effectively run a check on election results after county recorders have done their tallies.

"There are a lot of people concerned about it," Bennett said of the veracity of election returns. Having a method that would provide a check, done in a professional way, would go a long way toward shoring up voter confidence, he said.

Hobbs last year vetoed Bennett's bill that would have allowed ballot images.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House breaks for dinner with 2 budget bills outstanding

The Arizona House recessed for a dinner break shortly before 4:45 p.m. with two of the 16 budget bills still unaddressed.

The other 14 bills in the package largely passed on true bipartisan votes, with members of the conservative Freedom Caucus often joining Democratic leadership and the caucus' liberal wing in opposition.

Freedom Caucus members — including Reps. Alexander Kolodin, Barbara Parker, Austin Smith and Rachel Jones — repeatedly raised process concerns, noting lawmakers were being asked to vote on legislation before they had time to read it.

Democratic leaders also raised process concerns, with House Minority Leader Lupe Conteras telling reporters his caucus was largely shut out of negotiations between GOP legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

"There were things at the end that we were fighting for," Conteras said. "But is it enough? No, it's not."

— Pat Poblete

Senate shoots down 2 more ballot measures

Two up, two down: The Senate shot down two more possible additions to November's list of ballot propositions.

Lawmakers killed off House Concurrent Resolution 2038, which would have cartels designated as terrorist organizations and require the state Department of Homeland Security to do what it can to curb their activity. It died on a 14-15 vote, but Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, motioned to bring it back for reconsideration.

The Senate also dismissed HCR 2056, which would make it illegal for election administrators to take money from foreign governments. Lawmakers two years ago barred contributions from private companies to support election administration but didn't think about foreign influence.

The referral also died on a 14-15 vote, but Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, has asked the matter be brought back up for reconsideration.

If these ballot referrals are successfully resurrected, it would add even more length to a November ballot that is already two pages long for Maricopa County and likely could help push ballot issues onto a third sheet.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House Dem leader: GOP negotiators 'buying off members at the tail end'

House Minority Leader Lupe Contreras expressed frustration that GOP budget negotiators were "buying off" Democratic lawmakers "at the tail end" of the budget negotiation process.

"Why weren't we there and just having that conversation from the jump, that's what should have been done," the Avondale Democrat told reporters on the House floor. "Not waiting to when they lose their members and then come buy off ours with stuff that we were trying to negotiate from the beginning and leaving us out and going around us."

Contreras largely demurred when asked to point to specifics, noting it would become apparent in the "feed bill" that provides the funding for the new budget.

"If you don't have the votes, you have to do something, you have to make some changes in the current budget to get individuals and add or do whatever you have to do to the budget to get there," he said.

Contreras said the budget negotiators ― Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, Republican Senate President Warren Petersen and GOP House Speaker Ben Toma ― kept his caucus informed "in a staggered way throughout the process." He directed most of his frustration with the process toward GOP leaders, noting when it came to Hobbs that there was "more communication with the Ninth Floor" than there was with last year's budget.

"I'm not gonna put the total blame on the governor, because ultimately the speaker runs the House and the president runs the Senate and still has to go through their chambers," he said.

He also indicated that while he didn't support the budget, he didn't believe the "buy-offs" would complicate dynamics within his caucus for those who took them.

"I've been here 12 years. This happens all the time," he said. "We say buy-offs — there's different words you can use, but it's what they do every year, it's nothing new. So, I mean, you get things in the budget to get to your 31, and that's what they're doing."

With 60 members in the House, it takes 31 votes to pass a bill.

— Pat Poblete

At midday, final votes on budget start

Just before noon, the Arizona House started formal votes on the budget package.

First bill up: House Bill 2898, which deals with the state lottery, racing and the state fair. It was excruciating, taking 27 minutes for members to cast their votes.

"This is as good as it gets, folks," Speaker Pro Tem Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, said he prodded lawmakers to cast their votes. The budget is a bipartisan product and thus a compromise. Lawmakers can't get everything they want, he said, as he voted "yes" on the measure.

Rep. Rachel Jones, R-Tucson, echoed a common theme among members voting against the budget: The process is too rushed.

"I did not have time to read it, digest it," she said. Voting for bills she had not thoroughly absorbed would be a disservice to her constituents, she said.

She said it was "awesome" to meet with Democrats who also feel left out of the process, saying she and other members of the Freedom Caucus were "looked down on" for meeting with colleagues across the aisle, who are not part of what she called the "good old boys club."

The voting dragged on, finally ending with just enough votes to pass: 31-27. It was a truly bipartisan vote, exposing differences within both the Republican and Democratic caucuses.

After that, the House continued to march through the bills, passing most of them with the narrowest of margins and, again, along bipartisan lines.

After approving HB2909, which deals with taxation, the House took a break with plans to return later to deal with, most importantly, the "feed bill" that provides the funding for the new budget, as well as the cuts that are designed to erase the $1.4 billion deficit in the current and upcoming budgets.

If you're counting, the House has 60 members, but vote tallies only add up to 58 votes. That's because Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott and Rep. Melody Hernandez, D-Tempe are both absent.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Objection to budget by some Republicans centers on lack of review time

As the Arizona House moves through the budget bills on its calendar, it's becoming increasingly clear the chamber will need votes from both sides of the aisle to approve the state's annual budget plan negotiated by GOP leaders and Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Republicans are missing one member in both the House and Senate, narrowing the slim GOP margin in both chambers from two votes down to one. And not all Republicans appear to be on board with the budget.

Rep. Barbara Parker, R-Mesa, has on several occasions on Saturday opposed budget legislation on the basis that lawmakers have not been afforded the time to read the bills they are expected to vote on.

That mirrors a complaint raised Friday by fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Alexander Kolodin. The Scottsdale Republican stood to explain his "no" vote on several bills, saying each could be a good or bad bill but "I wouldn't know because we haven't been afforded the time to read the bills."

Still, lawmakers and staff have expressed to The Arizona Republic that they expect the preliminary budget to pass today.

House Speaker Ben Toma said the House is prepared to move on the main budget bill. There are eight pages of GOP amendments, including one that stipulates any money from the opioid settlement directed to the prison system be used to treat inmates with “opioid use disorder” or any other conditions authorized in a court order, a settlement agreement or the agreement from the opioid settlement.Just before noon, House started formal votes on budget bills. First up: HB2898, which deals with state fair and other amusements

— Pat Poblete and Mary Jo Pitzl

Every vote counts in narrowly divided Arizona Legislature

There may not be a lawmaker to spare as the hunt is on for votes to support the bipartisan budget negotiated by Gov. Katie Hobbs and the GOP legislative leaders.

Sen. Lela Alston, D-Phoenix, is back at the Capitol after missing several days while dealing with a family health situation.

In the House, the hunt was on for Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, as a vote was underway on whether to halt a key water bill. House security was told to scan the House parking lot to see if his car was present. It was — eventually.

Chaplik walked onto the House floor, collar popped up and sunglasses on, according to one eye witness. His vote killed the motion from Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, D-Phoenix, recommending Senate Bill 1221 not pass. More to come on that bill.

By mid-morning, both chambers were on break.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House continues to plow through budget bills

One hour into work, the House has approved five budget-related bills, on top of the eight bills they approved Friday.

Today's work included a resolution that waives the school spending cap for the coming year. This will avoid the cliffhanger dramatics of previous years, where school districts fretted they would have to cut budgets with only weeks left in the school year. House Concurrent Resolution 2065 passed on a voice vote and awaits a formal vote, likely later today.

The Senate has yet to get down to budget work, but instead passed an unrelated bill on barber regulations. They then took a quick break.

"Maybe we should take a poll of how many quick breaks we're going to take today," speaker Pro Tem T. J. Shope, R-Coolidge, suggested as the senators headed to the their offices or the lounge, where bagels awaited.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House kicks off weekend session, Senate poised to start

The Arizona House of Representatives gaveled into session to begin final deliberations on the budget five minutes after the previously scheduled 8 a.m. start time.

The Senate is also poised to start its work on the budget, but lawmakers are still trickling into the chamber.

— Pat Poblete

Lawmakers set to return for budget deliberations

The Arizona Legislature is scheduled to return to work at 8 a.m.

Deliberations on the budget will resume after GOP leaders on Friday opted to take a break for the evening rather than push through what many, including Democratic lawmakers, expected to be a marathon overnight session.

Continuing in the morning will "give people time to actually read the bills and give the staff enough time to check it and not be under the gun and come back at 8 a.m., when everything's ready to go," House Speaker Ben Toma said. "Rock and roll. Get her done."

Rep. Lupe Contreras, the Democrats' leader in the House, chuckled at Republicans' explanation for the delay.

"That's funny," he said. "If the votes are there, you don't leave the building. You don't leave when the votes are banked."

A 12-year legislative veteran, Contreras was repeating what has become standard practice on budgets: You don't let lawmakers go home when a budget vote is pending, even if it means working through the night. Former Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who was at the Legislature on Friday talking to lawmakers about water-related bills, said it's not a great idea to allow lawmakers more time to analyze the budget items once they near agreement.

"You gotta shut it down before the plague sets in,” Bowers said.

— Ray Stern and Mary Jo Pitzl

House, Senate adjourn for the evening with budget work incomplete

Shortly after 8 p.m., the House adjourned for the day.

That appeared to come as a surprise to Democratic lawmakers, after Minority Leader Lupe Conteras, D-Avondale, told his caucus in a meeting earlier in the evening to be prepared for a long night of debate.

House Republicans in a post on X said they have the votes to pass the budget and were delaying to "allow time for the legislative language to be drafted and distributed to members for review."

House GOP leaders indicated the chamber would return by 8 a.m. Saturday.

A spokesperson for Senate Republicans indicated that their chamber would return at the same time.

— Ray Stern and Mary Jo Pitzl

K-12 could dodge another cliff-hanger

Arizona public schools are set to lose $37 million as the preliminary budget proposes to end the “poverty weight” — extra funding intended to help schools that serve kids from lower-income areas. It was part of a deal in 2022 that is unraveling with this budget.

There is some good news for K-12: Lawmakers have agreed to waive a spending cap that every year threatens to force big cuts in school budgets.

House Concurrent Resolution 2065, part of the budget package, exempts public schools from having to keep their spending under the state’s aggregate expenditure limit. Each school district already is subject to its own spending cap, which will stay in place despite HCR 2065.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House, Senate recess for evening break

Lawmakers in both chambers recessed for a break to eat dinner and discuss policy. Both the Senate and House have begun budget deliberations, with the Senate slightly ahead in terms of progress.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Proposed budget would cut services for Maricopa County seniors

Seniors in Maricopa County could lose a variety of in-home services, from meal delivery to help with bathing if the budget cuts $5 million from the Area Agency on Aging. In Maricopa County, that would add up to a $2.25 million loss and affect 773 seniors, said Brandy Petrone, a lobbyist for the organization.

The possible loss of these services has triggered a letter-writing campaign to lawmakers, pleading for this item to be spared a cut. Rep. Judy Schwiebert, D-Phoenix, said she’s received requests to maintain the in-home service the agency provides. These services allow seniors to stay in their homes.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House returns after long recess

The House got back to work late Friday afternoon, dealing with a slate of bills unrelated to the budget.

Most of the work proceeded with little debate but there was a very notable, and vocal, exception.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, launched a one-man protest against the rushed agenda in the House. After complaining about the length of the budget bills combined with several bills still needing a vote on Friday, Kolodin stood to explain his "no" vote on several bills, saying each could be a good or bad bill but "I wouldn't know because we haven't been afforded the time to read the bills."  

The Senate took a recess around 4:15 p.m. with the intent of returning to work within 45 minutes, but didn't make that deadline.

— Ray Stern and Mary Jo Pitzl 

Mayes rallies Democrats against proposed budget over opioid fund raid

Attorney General Kris Mayes appears to be marshaling Democratic support for her argument that lawmakers should keep their hands off Arizona’s share of the national opioid settlement.

She met Friday with Senate Democrats to make it clear she will sue if the budget, as written, takes $75 million from the opioid settlement to help the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry cover its costs next year stemming from a settlement over inadequate health care. The budget proposes pulling another $40 million a year for three years after that. Mayes made a similar rallying effort Thursday with House Democrats.

But she’s not making much headway with the key budget negotiators: Gov. Katie Hobbs, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma. They’ve eyed the opioid dollars to help close the state’s budget deficit and argue the settlement agreement allows some of the funds to be used for opioid purposes in prisons and jails.

Mayes agrees, but says there’s a process that must be followed — and the budget authors aren’t following it. Plus, she argues, the budget ask goes too far. She pointed to a plan she drafted earlier this year that provides $10 million for opioid causes in the prisons. On Friday, she said she could agree with $20 million.

“The scale of this is just staggering and mind-blowing,” Mayes told The Arizona Republic, referring to the budget proposal. “They want to spend half of Arizona’s entire state share of the opioid fund on the prisons.”

No one has shown her documents that would make the case for spending $195 million over the next three years on treatment for opioid use, she said.

“This is clearly a budget gimmick,” Mayes said. “And they’re raiding precious opioid payments to get this done. The money is not leaving our office, I’m not going to allow our funds to flow to an improper purpose.”

To avoid a lawsuit, Mayes suggests the state might want to look at the state’s rainy day fund. It’s a $1.4 billion reserve fund that draws interest and serves as a backup for a rainy day.

And according to Mayes’ weather report, it’s raining.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Should Arizona use its reserve fund?

The balance of Arizona’s rainy day fund is at $1.4 billion, and its forecast is continued sunny and warm as far as state budget negotiators are concerned. Despite the need to erase a $1.4 billion deficit by the end of the month, lawmakers have signaled they’re not interested in tapping the fund. Gov. Katie Hobbs, in presenting her budget plan in January, said since the state is not in a structural deficit, the state should leave the fund alone.

The Pew Charitable Trust did a survey of states’ rainy day funds, noting some states have built up sizeable balances and offering advice on how to strike the best balance between having too much money and not enough.

While more is widely seen as better, keeping a hefty balance isn’t necessarily prudent, said Josh Goodman, a senior officer with the Pew Trusts.

“If a state keeps saving and saving and saving, they’re missing opportunities to do things with that money,” Goodman said, noting the dollars could be deployed for one-time expenses, such as construction projects or paying down debt.  At some point, the “opportunity cost” of keeping state dollars locked up doesn’t make financial sense, he said.

Pew recommends that states do “stress tests” every time they produce a new budget to determine how much a rainy day fund should grow, if at all. Arizona doesn’t do such a test, although the legislative budget staff produces three-year outlooks for each budget.

This year’s outlook shows the state’s budget should be in better shape by the end of the three years, so Goodman said that argues for holding back on the rainy day fund. Given the $690 million hole facing the budget that starts July 1, Goodman said some assistance from the fund could be advisable.

As lawmakers struggle with one of the big budget holdups — the proposed use of the state’s opioid settlement money to cover state prison health care costs rather than provide help to people addicted to opioids — the fund could be a solution.  Attorney General Kris Mayes and a growing number of Democrats want to pull back the $75 million of opioid dollars currently designated for the prison system.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Maricopa Community Colleges pan proposed budget, say cuts 'will decimate critical workforce programs'

The 10-college Maricopa County Community College District, one of the largest in the nation, opposes the planned budget because of a $53.9 million across-the-board cut.

Lauren Armour, the district's government relations director, told the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday those cuts "will decimate critical workforce programs" for nurses and other jobs the state targeted as critical. The cuts will also hurt productive public/private partnerships with the college district and be felt acutely in rural areas, she said.

— Ray Stern

Senate kicks off formal budget work

Senate lawmakers introduced six of the 16 bills in the budget package at 2 p.m.

These are bills considered noncontroversial, although there will be amendments. Notably, they are not the so-called "feed bill," which allocates money.

The first bills up are Senate Bill 1742 (higher education), SB 1743 (human services), SB 1745 (local governments), SB 1746 (state building management), SB 1748 (self-regulating agencies, such as the Board of Dental Examiners) and SB 1749 (budget implementation).

Once introduced, the Senate took a break.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Proposed budget includes concealed weapons policy

Policy on Arizona’s concealed weapon permit program slipped into the criminal justice portion of the proposed state budget would prioritize in-state resident applications and conduct research on the turnaround times for permits.

A related part of the bill on the Department of Public Safety’s fingerprint clearance card fund changes the law to allow appropriated money from the fund to be used for “real property use,” while previously could be used not just for fingerprint service providers but for expenses of the DPS crime lab.

Several Republican lawmakers asked about the provisions Friday, including Republican Majority Leader Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, said they didn’t know why the provisions were in the budget bill but would find out.

— Ray Stern

Senate kicks off work for the day

The Arizona Senate gaveled into session around 1 p.m., as was previously scheduled.

The House remains in the "quick" recess Speaker Ben Toma called shortly before 11 a.m.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Water projects feeling the budget squeeze

The budget proposes to cut $333 million from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, an agency that got $1 billion two years ago in then-Gov. Doug Ducey’s final budget year.

The intent was for the money to be used to explore a desalination plant in Mexico. Other water projects are also losing funding to the tune of $177 million, said Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Fontes advocates for program serving victims of sex assault, domestic violence, stalking

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Thursday made an appeal to the House Appropriations Committee to shift $400,000 from the Victim Compensation Assistance Fund to his office’s Address Confidentiality program.

The program serves victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking by providing them new addresses that are kept secret so their attackers or abusers can’t find them.

“This is really critical to make sure we maintain those protections,” he said.

House Appropriations Chair Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria, told him he'd take up the requests with Gov. Katie Hobbs and legislative leaders, but wouldn't guarantee anything.

— Ray Stern

After Dem complaints, how does the budget plan deal with school vouchers?

There’s been a lot of complaining about the Empowerment Scholarship Account program and its cost from Democrats. But during budget hearings on Thursday, there was little talk of the proposed guardrails for the universal school voucher program. Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said the proposal gives a “veneer” of stricter rules for ESAs.

Here’s a rundown of what is planned to “rein in” the program:

• Require all teaching staff and personnel who have unsupervised contact with students to be fingerprinted.

• Allow ESA money to be spent on tutoring or teaching services as long as the provider has not been disciplined by the State Board of Education for immoral or unprofessional conduct.

• Require the state Department of Education to review a sample of ESA contracts to determine if the parent or child is qualified to receive the scholarship.

• Require the Education Department to keep an online list of allowed expense categories for ESA monies.

• Requires the Education Department to develop audit procedures for ESAs in consultation with the state auditor general.

• Produce an estimated savings of $2.5 million a year by preventing a double dip situation where public school students can receive an ESA to cover the summer months, then return to the public school in the fall.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

House pauses after half an hour of work

After moving four non-budget bills in less than a half hour, House Speaker Ben Toma said the chamber is taking a quick recess. Toma didn't define how long the break would last, but called on lawmakers to be ready to return quickly.

The Senate is scheduled to start work at 1 p.m.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Arizona House begins budget considerations

House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, gaveled the House into order shortly before 10:30 a.m., kicking off the Legislature's final consideration of the state budget.

After an opening prayer and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, lawmakers introduced guests and read a resolution honoring the late husband of Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, R-Peoria.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

Attorney general threatens to sue over opioid settlement fund

The biggest sticking point in budget negotiations so far is state Attorney General Kris Mayes' threat to sue if lawmakers approve the budget's $75 million grab from the state's opioid lawsuit settlement fund to help fund the state prison system.

The budget negotiators ― Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, Republican Senate President Warren Petersen and GOP House Speaker Ben Toma ― plan to use the money to shore up funding for the state's Corrections Department in the current budget year, then take out $40 million each year from the fund for the same purpose over the next three years. That’s a total of $195 million, which approaches half the amount the state is expected to receive from the fund over the next 17 years, said Mayes’ spokesperson, Richie Taylor.

The latest budget only solidifies spending for the current and next state fiscal year, 2025, meaning even if the provision gets approved, lawmakers could choose to do something different with the money, or come up with the extra dollars when they approve a 2026 and 2027 budget.

Mayes, a Democrat, in a statement insisted the opioid lawsuit settlement money is subject to strict rules. Using the money to fund prisons "is illegal," she said.

"If the Legislature and Governor follow through with these plans, it could put Arizona’s entire $1.14 billion in opioid funds in legal jeopardy," Mayes said. "I will not stand by and let more Arizonans die while irresponsible and reckless decisions like this are made."

Mayes met with the House and Senate Democratic caucuses Thursday and Friday to brief them on the problem as she sees it.

— Mary Jo Pitzl and Ray Stern

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona budget: Legislature passes plan, but lawsuit threat lingers