By Jonathan Eberle |

With less than two weeks before Arizona’s fiscal year ends, a deepening budget dispute between the state House and Governor Katie Hobbs escalated Saturday, as House Speaker Steve Montenegro announced plans to introduce a continuation budget to keep state government running past the June 30 deadline.

Montenegro said the House would move forward with a stopgap measure after determining that the Senate-passed executive budget, negotiated by Hobbs and Republican Senate leaders, lacks sufficient support to clear the House.

“The executive budget plan passed in the Senate does not have the votes in the House—with bipartisan opposition from Republicans and Democrats,” Montenegro said. “Now, with time running out and no viable path forward for their plan, it’s our responsibility to act to prevent a shutdown.”

He added that House Republicans had already passed their own budget last week, which he said focused on public safety, infrastructure, and government accountability—but that proposal was “ignored by the Senate.”

“The House is not going to be forced into a take-it-or-leave-it deal that doesn’t reflect the will of our members or the people we represent,” Montenegro said. “We will do what responsible legislators should do: take action to keep government running and protect Arizona taxpayers.”

A continuation budget, currently being drafted, would maintain current funding levels to preserve essential government operations while lawmakers continue to negotiate. However, the governor swiftly condemned the plan and signaled she would veto any such proposal.

In a statement, Governor Hobbs accused House Republicans of abandoning bipartisan talks and attempting to “jam through an irresponsible and partisan ‘budget.’”

“For months I have worked with leaders of both parties, in both chambers, to craft a bipartisan, balanced, and fiscally responsible budget,” Hobbs said. “Sadly, House Republican leadership abdicated their responsibility and refused to meaningfully participate in those bipartisan conversations.”

Hobbs warned that the continuation budget would gut pay raises for state troopers and firefighters, slash childcare and education funding, raise taxes on small businesses, and eliminate key investments in veterans’ services and wildfire mitigation.

“Speaker Montenegro knows this, yet he has chosen to continue with this farce as an exercise in pointless political grandstanding,” she said. “His reckless actions jeopardize basic government functions with potentially devastating consequences.”

The governor also criticized House Republicans for seeking an increase in their own per diem pay while proposing cuts to public safety and education programs.

“This irresponsible House Republican budget will raise costs and make our state less safe, less secure, and less competitive,” she added. “It’s time for House Republican leadership to come back to reality, stop wasting everyone’s time, and show some common sense by working with their colleagues in a productive fashion.”

With the June 30 deadline approaching, the battle over Arizona’s budget now hinges on whether either side can reach a new agreement—or whether the impasse will trigger a government shutdown.

Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.