Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro announced Friday that the House will begin advancing a continuation budget in the coming days to avoid a government shutdown, following a survey of House members that showed the Senate’s budget proposal lacked the votes needed to pass in the House.
Montenegro stated that the budget plan, which passed the Senate late Thursday night and early Friday morning, faces bipartisan opposition in the House and is not viable in its current form.
“With time running out and no viable path forward for their plan, it’s our responsibility to act to prevent a shutdown,” Montenegro said. “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.”
The continuation budget, now being drafted by House leadership, would fund state operations beyond the June 30 deadline, buying time for further negotiations on a full-year spending plan. Montenegro emphasized that the measure would ensure core functions of government remain operational while lawmakers continue work on a balanced compromise.
The House’s move comes days after the Senate voted to adjourn sine die, a legislative term that typically signals the end of the session. However, under Arizona legislative rules, an adjournment of more than three days requires approval from both chambers — which the House did not grant.
As a result, the Senate’s adjournment is not legally binding and is being treated as a temporary recess. The chamber is expected to reconvene to address the state budget and other pending legislation that includes a significant number of bills that would have died had the Senate’s adjournment been final. Capitol sources believe that many of these bills still stand a chance of receiving final votes before the session formally concludes.
That reality did not stop propagandists like ABC15’s Garrett Archer of spreading fake news about Sine Die on X.com, causing confusion among even the most seasoned Capitol watchers.
Waking up to the AZ Senate passing the budget and voting sine die without the House. pic.twitter.com/PU6AJLxgvB
— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) June 20, 2025
“The Senate worked with the Governor and ignored the budget passed by the House, then tried to pull a sine die maneuver to bully the House into passing their budget,” said one Capitol observer. “That was never going to work and was only going to increase the friction with the House, so no one is surprised that it ended up in the bin.”
In earlier comments, Montenegro defended the House’s budget proposal, passed last week, as balanced and focused on public safety, infrastructure, and accountability. He expressed frustration that the Senate had opted not to even consider the House’s version.
The continuation budget, which does not require immediate agreement on broader spending priorities, is expected to be fast-tracked next week to prevent disruption to state services.
As the June 30 deadline approaches, both chambers will face renewed pressure to reach agreement on a long-term budget deal. For now, legislative leaders appear focused on short-term stability while keeping the door open for further needed negotiation.
