Arizona Republican House and Senate leaders announced a compromise budget agreement with Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs on Tuesday and introduced a series of budget bills for consideration in both chambers.
According to a press release by the GOP Senate Caucus, the budget, totaling $18.29 billion, is designed to deliver approximately $1.45 billion in tax relief to Arizonans over a four-year period and to limit state spending growth to 3.05%. The agreed-upon budget also “rejects or modifies more than $3 billion in proposed executive tax increases, fees, and spending expansions over the next three years.”
The legislative GOP leadership and Gov. Hobbs have been embroiled in tense on-again-off-again negotiations since January, with Hobbs announcing a full moratorium on signing legislation, vetoing nearly all bills sent to her desk from April 13 until May 14, including a proposed Republican budget containing over $1 billion in tax relief.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Arizona Becomes Only State in the Nation to Deliver Historic Trump Tax Cuts As Part of Bipartisan FY 2027 Budget Agreement
“Arizona is leading the nation once again,” Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) said in a statement. “For years, Arizona has built a reputation as one of the best places in America to live, work, raise a family, and start a business. This budget strengthens that foundation. Families are facing higher costs for groceries, childcare, housing, and everyday necessities, and we wanted to provide real relief. By adopting President Trump’s tax cuts at the state level, expanding tax relief for families, and protecting educational freedom, we’re helping Arizonans keep more of their hard-earned money while ensuring our state remains economically competitive.”
Looks like we have a deal on the budget. Arizona will be the first state in the nation to deliver the full Trump tax cuts! Proud of my colleagues in the House and Senate. Expecting to vote it out on Thursday. And this time, it will get signed.
The budget reportedly incorporates full conformity with the tax cuts of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025, which included several of President Trump’s major federal tax provisions, including:
No tax on tips, no tax on overtime,
An increased standard deduction,
A new childcare deduction,
An enhanced child tax credit,
Expanded charitable giving deductions,
Property tax relief for disabled veterans.
In a statement to AZ Free News, Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-LD29) said, “Republicans came into this session focused on affordability, responsible spending, public safety, school choice, and protecting taxpayers from new taxes and fees. This agreement reflects those priorities and shows what can be achieved through serious negotiations in divided government. The process still needs to play out, but this is a responsible budget agreement that moves Arizona in the right direction and puts families and taxpayers first.”
According to the Senate GOP Caucus, the budget agreement will also address the ongoing controversy of data center development in the state through the imposition of “a three-year moratorium on the issuance of new certificates for the data center sales tax exemption while explicitly allowing construction of new data centers to continue.”
In addition to implementing the $1.45 billion in tax relief, the budget will also include:
$112 million for corrections operations,
A 4% correctional officer stipend,
$23 million for victims of crime assistance,
$58 million for child safety operations, including foster care coaching and guardian contract costs,
$25.5 million for county support programs, probation services, coordinated reentry efforts, and sheriff assistance,
$10 million for wildfire suppression efforts,
$4.3 million for rural hospitals.
Reforms packaged with the FY2027 budget also include eligibility verification requirements for Medicaid and SNAP benefits, and protections for the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
Governor Hobbs praised the bipartisan agreement, saying, “This bipartisan, balanced budget agreement will put Arizona first and deliver opportunity, security and freedom to communities throughout the state. With this agreement, we are delivering a $1.4 billion tax cut for working-class families, investing in job creation, education and water security while tightening our belts, and securing a moratorium on the data center tax exemption so we can develop a responsible path forward that protects our water future and lowers utility bills for Arizona families.”
She added, “This bipartisan compromise shows what we can do when we put common sense before political games and focus on delivering real results for our communities. It will put money back in the pockets of Arizona families and lower costs, make our communities safer, and protect the vital services that Arizonans rely on. In the coming days, I look forward to working with legislators in both parties to pass this bipartisan budget agreement that will make Arizona stronger, safer, and more prosperous.”
House and Senate versions of the budget bills will be considered during a Joint Senate & House Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday, with final votes set for Thursday.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported Tuesday that millions of Americans claimed tax relief under President Donald Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts during the most recent filing season. According to the analysis, low- and middle-income households received the largest share of the benefits.
According to a June 2 press release from the Treasury Department, taxpayers claimed approximately $82 billion in individual tax relief through the April filing deadline under provisions included in the Working Families Tax Cuts. Treasury officials said the total is expected to increase as taxpayers who requested filing extensions continue submitting returns.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the data demonstrates that the tax package delivered significant relief to working Americans and families.
“American families and workers overwhelmingly benefited from the Working Families Tax Cuts, receiving the largest share of the historic tax relief delivered this past filing season,” Bessent said. “This analysis confirms President Trump’s tax policies deliver substantial tax cuts to hardworking Americans and provide greater relief and financial certainty to low- and middle-income households.”
While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country. Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that @POTUS’ maximum pressure campaign has… https://t.co/CJPNSgccqh
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) June 2, 2026
The Treasury Department stated that without the legislation, taxpayers would have faced the scheduled expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which officials said would have resulted in approximately $5 trillion in tax increases over time. According to the Treasury, 97% of filers who received a tax cut during the most recent filing season would have owed more in taxes absent the extension of the 2017 tax provisions.
The analysis found that tax relief was concentrated among households earning less than $200,000 annually. The Treasury reported that 96% of filers receiving a tax cut earned less than $200,000 per year, while nearly 70% earned less than $100,000.
Among taxpayers earning between $100,000 and $200,000 who claimed one of the tax provisions, the average tax reduction exceeded $1,250. Taxpayers earning between $50,000 and $100,000 who claimed one of the provisions received an average tax cut of more than $815.
The report highlighted several signature provisions included in the package. The Treasury reported that more than 7.5 million filers claimed the “No Tax on Tips” deduction, receiving an average deduction of more than $7,000. According to the department, 90% of taxpayers claiming the deduction earned less than $100,000 annually, while 99% earned less than $200,000.
More than 29 million filers claimed the “No Tax on Overtime” deduction, with an average deduction exceeding $3,100. The Treasury reported that 75% of taxpayers using the provision earned less than $100,000 annually, while 96% earned less than $200,000.
The department also reported that more than 35 million seniors claimed the Enhanced Deduction for Seniors, receiving an average deduction of more than $7,500. According to the Treasury, 68% of participating seniors earned less than $100,000 annually and 94% earned less than $200,000.
Other provisions cited in the report included the “No Tax on Car Loan Interest” deduction, which the Treasury said was claimed by more than 1.4 million taxpayers purchasing qualifying American-made vehicles. Those taxpayers received an average deduction of more than $1,800. The Treasury reported that 62% of claimants earned less than $100,000 annually and 98% earned less than $200,000.
The Treasury also reported that more than 5.5 million Trump Accounts have been opened since the program’s launch, with approximately 1.4 million qualifying for a $1,000 pilot contribution. According to the department, 86% of the accounts are linked to families earning less than $200,000 annually.
The report further found that nearly 40 million families claimed the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which the Treasury noted was permanently expanded under the legislation. Approximately 65% of participating families earned less than $100,000 annually, while 89% earned less than $200,000.
In addition, the Treasury reported that more than 127 million taxpayers—representing roughly 90% of all filers—claimed the permanently doubled standard deduction during the filing season. The department said the provision continues to simplify tax filing requirements for millions of Americans.
Attorney General Kris Mayes sustained a fatal blow in her case against the 2020 alternate electors for President Donald Trump.
Mayes doesn’t plan on giving up, though.
The Arizona Supreme Court denied Mayes’ appeal of lower court rulings in State v. Ward this week. This means that Mayes must start over to continue prosecution of the alternate electors.
Mayes’ spokesman Richie Taylor confirmed the attorney general plans to return to the grand jury to seek another indictment; he would not provide further comment.
Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) said Mayes’ persistence to prosecute despite the rejection of multiple courts proved her to be “completely unhinged” and in need of sanctioning.
“She’s wasting Arizona taxpayers’ money on her obsessive, Ahab-like pursuit of patriotic Arizonans who served as alternate electors after the stolen 2020 election,” said Hamadeh. “Her first sham indictment was already laughed out of every court in the state.”
She’s wasting Arizona taxpayers’ money on her obsessive, Ahab-like pursuit of patriotic Arizonans who served as alternate electors after the stolen 2020 election.
Her first sham indictment was already laughed out of every court in…
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) June 4, 2026
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) — who is running to unseat Mayes this November — said Mayes was the poster child of a “rogue” attorney general.
“This is what a rogue AG looks like,” said Petersen. “Loses at every level and still not tired of losing.”
This is what a rogue AG looks like. Loses at every level and still not tired of losing. https://t.co/UKhjcfDPZx
Mayes has sustained a series of losses in her attempt to prosecute the Trump electors, each court ruling increasingly diminishing the life of her case until it reached the point where it lies now — effectively on life support as it awaits another grand jury indictment that may not come.
Last September, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Mayes’ appeal of a ruling issued last May by the Maricopa County Superior Court. The latter court remanded Mayes’ case back to a grand jury, ruling that she violated the due process of the alternate electors by failing to give the grand jury a document critical to the indictment, the Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887.
The ECA is a federal law outlining the legal process for casting and counting electoral votes in presidential elections. It was modified recently in 2022 under the Biden administration through the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 (ECRA).
The ERCA, in part, limited the vice president’s involvement in electoral certification to a ministerial role, raised the congressional threshold for elector objections to one-fifth of Congress, and made state governors the authority for submitting the certificate of electors.
Key to the defense of the electors was the argument that they acted in good faith in accordance with the ECA.
Mayes has also been accused of receiving payment to prosecute the alternate electors, according to a whistleblower complaint filed last November.
That complaint alleged that States United Democracy Center (SUDC) paid around $200,000 to have prosecutorial influence over the alternate electors case. It was SUDC who advised Mayes’ office in a summer 2023 letter to prosecute Trump’s top supporters from the contentious 2020 election and its aftermath. Mayes’ office has denied the impact of the SUDC letter on their decision to prosecute the alternate electors.
Hamadeh asked the Department of Justice to investigate this alleged “pay-to-play” scheme.
That DOJ investigation is ongoing.
In April, a court of appeals judge ruled in another case that Mayes illegally withheld communications between her office and SUDC.
Trump has pardoned these alternate electors and supporters of the federal charges against them, but state charges like Mayes’ remain.
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A staple of Arizona’s most conservative coalition of lawmakers is running to rejoin the state legislature.
Anthony Kern is seeking to once again represent the 27th legislative district, held by incumbent Republican State Sen. Kevin Payne. Kern and Payne are the only two Republicans in the race; three Democrats have filed statements of interest.
Kern last represented that district in the Arizona Senate from 2023 to 2025. Kern departed from the state legislature in order to make his unsuccessful run for the 8th Congressional District in 2024. Prior to the state senate, Kern represented the 20th legislative district in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021.
While in the legislature, Kern built a reputation as one of its more outspoken conservative members. This was reflected by his membership with the Arizona Freedom Caucus, and A-ratings for conservative lawmaking from the Conservative Political Action Committee, NumbersUSA, American Conservative Union, National Rifle Association, and Keep Arizona Free.
Kern held a number of committee leadership positions, including chairmanships of the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee and the House Rules Committee, and a vice chairmanship of the Senate Public Safety Committee.
President Donald Trump and Turning Point USA have been among a number of Republican powerhouses to take notice of Kern. Trump commended Kern as “an incredible fighter for election integrity,” and pardoned him from the 2020 Trump electors case put together by the Biden Department of Justice. Turning Point USA’s affiliate, Turning Point Action, has endorsed Kern.
Although the federal charges against Kern and other electors were dropped, Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes has pursued her own case. A court of appeals ruled last month in a loosely related case that Mayes illegally withheld communications in which she conspired with States United Democracy Center to prosecute Trump’s allies.
Prior to joining the legislature over a decade ago, Kern worked in municipal code enforcement and other public safety roles in the West Valley.
It appears that this background — combined with his repeated public commitments to limiting administrative rulemaking and expanding legislative oversight of regulations — has influenced a take from Kern that puts him at odds with other Republican lawmakers, though not with fellow conservatives.
Kern’s platform includes an opposition to automatic license plate readers (APLRs), such as the Flock Safety cameras. Unlike Kern, Payne as chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee sponsored a bill in support of APLRs earlier this year, SB 1111.
Other aspects of Kern’s platform include healthcare reform, proposing health providers must offer one single price for products and services, and health insurance premiums and medical expenses must be tax-free; and private property protections, proposing a removal of certain alleged loopholes to squatter prevention laws.
Kern has described himself as pro-life, an election integrity advocate, an opponent to illegal migration, and a supporter of parental rights and school choice.
He has lived in LD27 for nearly 40 years and attends Fresh Start Church in Peoria.
The Arizona Clean Elections Commission is scheduled to host the LD27 primary debate on June 22.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) again demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be abolished in her first State of the District address on Wednesday.
The address — which was not livestreamed or posted to any of Ansari’s social media accounts — was largely an indictment of President Donald Trump and his administration.
“We are living through the most corrupt and the most authoritarian administration in American history, led by a lunatic with no regard for human life,” said Ansari.
Ansari advocated for the immediate abolition of ICE. She claimed the agency was a murderous, chaotic, cruel entity lacking accountability.
“It is absolutely clear that we must do everything in our power to stop and abolish ICE as quickly as possible,” said Ansari. “Immigration enforcement [is not] locking up tens of thousands of people into what can only be described as concentration camps run by private prison companies designed to profit off of human suffering.”
The congresswoman has made similar calls for immigration enforcement abolition throughout her freshman tenure. At the Munich Security Conference in February, Ansari advocated for abolishing all immigration enforcement in addition to implementing a wealth tax and subsidizing healthcare, homeownership, and childcare.
During her State of the District, Ansari also announced her endorsement of a ballot proposal to gut universal school choice in Arizona, the Protect Education Act. Present for this recommendation were the state’s largest teacher’s union, the Arizona Education Association (AEA), and the activist group Save Our Schools Arizona.
Featured speakers at Ansari’s first State of the District were Reyna Montoya, founder and CEO of Aliento Arizona; Mike Renaud, president and CEO of Valle Del Sol; Marisol Garcia, president of the AEA; Karyleni Alburquerque, Ansari’s former ambassador for the 3rd congressional district; Dr. Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center; and Jake Hylton, executive director of Lookout Publications.
Andrew Simek, Ansari’s field representative and community manager, claimed in a LinkedIn post that Ansari has attended over 300 community events, hosted over a dozen town halls, logged over 1,000 volunteer hours, and engaged with over 77,000 constituents.
On that last point — it was unclear whether that total for constituents included any illegal aliens facing detainment or deportation, since Ansari has claimed this class as part of her “historically underserved and underrepresented” constituency.
Ansari disclosed during her address that she prioritized community outreach to these underserved and underrepresented populations, specifically calling out the Afghan refugees, Iranian students, and Sudanese and Asian communities.
The congresswoman also advocated for government-run pharmacies, taxation on excess profits by oil companies, expansion of government-run housing, expansion of government-subsidized rent, government subsidies for house down payments, double wages for overtime, and universal healthcare.
Ansari also laid claim to securing over $17 million in federal funding for community projects, or Community Project Funding:
$2.1 million for the city of Phoenix Fire Wildland Urban Interface;
$2 million for the Arizona State University Center for Heat Resilient Communities;
$2 million for the Arizona State University CHIPS and Domestic Manufacturing Research Initiative;
$2 million for the city of Phoenix’s Real Time Crime Center;
$2 million for the town of Guadalupe’s Biehn Colony Park Reconstruction;
$1.1 million for the city of Tolleson Wastewater Digester No. 4 Project;
$1 million for the city of Tolleson Multi-Modal Path Lighting Project;
$1 million for the Arouet Foundation’s 2026 Reentry Prosperity Model;
$1 million for the Valley Metro Community Safety Project;
$850,000 for the city of Glendale Transportation Improvements;
$830,000 for the city of Phoenix Central Arizona Shelter Services’ Single Adult Shelter Renovations;
$800,000 for the city of Phoenix Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fires Mitigation;
$580,000 for Axiom Community of Recovery’s Transition to Recovery and Reentry Program; and
$250,000 for Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Improvements
Ansari introduced 32 bills and cosponsored over 450 bills. None of her bills have advanced beyond introduction. Two bills propose to overhaul and defund ICE.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
