AZ Legislative Update: Arizona Legislature Passes $18B Bipartisan Budget Package
Posted by [email protected] on Jun. 23, 2022 / AZ Legislative Update / Subscribe 0
AZ Legislative Update: Arizona Legislature Passes $18B Bipartisan Budget Package
Arizona state lawmakers worked throughout the night to pass an historic bipartisan $18 billion budget package.
Outside of the “skinny budget,” passed during the COVID-19 shorten session in 2020, this was the first true bipartisan budget since 2008.
After months of trying to come up with a partisan deal, Republican leadership inevitably had to rely on Democrats to get a FY 2023 spending package completed.
By significantly increasing the amount of spending on K-12 education, Republican leadership was able to win over House and Senate Democrats. With nearly $600 million in new, permanent funding for public schools, this number is almost double the $330 million in the original budget proposal from a couple of weeks ago.
The added funding for K-12 education includes phasing in more dollars for low-income students, starting at $50 million in the upcoming fiscal year and growing to $100 million in three year, and more money for special education. The package also includes another $200 million for school repairs and another $50 million for school safety initiatives.
The FY 2023 package also includes nearly $1 billion for various transportation projects across the state and $544 million for border security. It also makes a $1.1 billion deposit into the pension fund for public safety and corrections officers, paying off the state’s unfunded liability for future retirement benefits. It puts another $425 million in the rainy-day fund (on top of the current $1B) to help the state weather a potential recession. Additionally, the final package also eliminates the state equalization tax, a property tax for education, and backfills it with $330 million from the general fund.
This afternoon, both legislative chambers will work to pass legislation that will re-establish the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority as a separate state agency and set aside $1 billion for various water infrastructure projects throughout the state. Following the passage of this legislation, the 55th Arizona Legislature, 2nd Regular Session is expected to sine die tomorrow.
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