The state’s Medicaid program won’t have the money to pay its bills next month unless the governor and legislators come to an agreement on at least some elements of the budget.

Senate Speaker Warren Petersen told Capitol Media Service on Monday that legislative Democrats were hesitant to give Republicans a list of their priorities. Little progress will be made in formulating spending plans for the new fiscal year, which begins in 2020, he said.

But a more pressing issue is that some state agencies need additional funding this budget year. And Gilbert said efforts to resolve it have stalled in negotiations over next year’s budget.

Most pressing is the funding of Arizona’s healthcare cost containment system.

Legislative budget officials say the agency has requested an additional $3.3 billion to close out the current fiscal year. This includes both state funds and authorization to use federal dollars, covering about two-thirds of the total amount.

Lawmakers approved a bill for half that amount late last month and was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs. But without the other half, AHCCCS would be unable to pay for the services it’s providing to eligible Arizonans in May and he’s managed care plan due in June, GOP said. staff says.

Although not a pressing issue, it also requires an estimated $180.6 million shortfall in spending on K-12 education. Those dollars are needed in June.

Arizona State Hospital also needs additional cash by June 30, but the numbers weren’t immediately available.

Petersen said all the supplement requests were included in the “meager” budget Republicans sent to the governor earlier this year. Hobbs rejected her $15.8 billion plan, saying that her $17.1 billion spending proposal of her own did not include priorities.

But Petersen said there is a really simple way to solve the current shortage problem. He said he has the authority to remove it.

Senate Speaker Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert

“She could have made line items for everything but supplements,” he said. Nothing happened.

Hobbes does not want to take responsibility for the current situation.

Public Affairs Assistant Christian Slater said his boss has worked since taking office to “pass a budget that makes meaningful investments to improve the lives of the people of Arizona.” He said it wasn’t her fault.

Also, many people are involved. According to the latest report from AHCCCS, it provides care to nearly 2.5 million Arizonans.

“Republicans are pledging to take one-third of the Arizona hostages with medical care and earn cheap political points,” Slater told Capitol Media Services. And he said there’s no reason why Senate Republicans can’t act now in a bipartisan fashion to approve additional funding for AHCCCS, as they did in his March.

Assuming the more pressing funding issues can still be resolved, there are only 66 days left until the end of the year to adopt a new budget.

Unlike the federal government, Arizona does not have the power to enact “continuing resolutions” to keep the state in operation once the new budget year begins on July 1st. In fact, it took several hours into the new spending year.

Petersen said it was legislative Democrats, not governors, who were holding back progress.

“We got the governor’s request,” he said. And he said they had meetings several times a week.

“We’re pretty close with her,” Petersen said.

What is missing, he said, is what Democrats want.

At this point, much of the discussion is because Republican leaders are reluctant to start new ongoing programs or significantly expand existing programs with dollars that may or may not exist in the next few years. Now, he said, it is about a project that can be funded with a one-time dollar.

Budget doesn’t call them “pork”. However, it is clear that many of them are projects requested by one or more members of Congress.

For example, there is $5.9 million in pavement repairs along US 99 in Yuma County. A plan to improve the drainage and safety of Moson Road in Cochise County has been recorded for $6.1 million. About $10 million has been set aside for the transportation interchange between I-10 and Coltaro Road in Marana. We also need an additional $6.9 million to improve the Ironwood Drive stretch of Apache Junction.

There are also fewer allocations for everything from streetlights to rebuilding roundabouts.
Peterson said there are “hundreds of millions of dollars” of funding available for such projects. And he said some of those dollars are available for Democratic priorities.

House Minority Leader Andres Cano (Tucson) said Democrats provided a list of priorities. But the list is being sent to Democratic governors with whom Republican leaders are negotiating, he said.

Kano further said his colleagues are genuinely concerned about lawmakers making wish lists of their own road projects that may not even be a priority for the transport ministry.

But while it seeks to fund favored local road projects, Maricopa County residents can vote to continue the 0.5-cent sales tax that pays not only roads but also public transportation, including light rail. He said many have refused to advance the laws needed to make the program a priority for business leaders in the region.

Nor is Kano allowing Republicans to give AHCCCS more money in preparation for a looming deadline.

He said Republican leadership had an opportunity last month to approve the entire $3.3 billion needed for AHCCCS. Instead, Kano said he decided to go with this “week by month, month by month attempt to paint minority parties as saboteurs.”

“From day one, we’ve seen who the real saboteurs are,” he said.