In a last-ditch effort to guilt Republican lawmakers into supporting a supplemental funding bill, Democrat House members brought children with disabilities to the chamber.
Happening now, House Dems are parading out disabled children as political pawns.
Only 2 members in the House have children in wheelchairs & actually put their money where their mouth is. Both of us are Republicans.
I will not be shamed by people with no skin in the game! https://t.co/I3FUdvNmUb
— Nick Kupper (@realnickkupper) March 18, 2025
Democrats spoke at length about the plights of their invited guests, turning their woes into pitches for the media members in attendance. Then, State Representative Nancy Gutierrez attempted to bypass the required committee approval to get her supplemental funding bill, HB2816, onto the floor.
The bill proposes to provide $122.3 million in emergency funding from the state general fund for disabilities services — enough to cover the Arizona Department of Economic Securities’ Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) shortfall. It also would provide a $409 million appropriation using the developmental disabilities Medicaid expenditure authority.
State Representative David Livingston, House Appropriations Committee chairman, said a standalone bill wouldn’t do in a statement to KJZZ on Tuesday. Livingston said funding issues would have to be negotiated within the state budget.
Last week, Livingston told AZ Capitol Times they anticipated the delivery of a budget to the governor by the end of April. DDD runs out of funding by May.
State Representative Matt Gress, House Appropriations Committee vice chairman, blamed Governor Katie Hobbs for the emergency low levels of funding facing the state.
“Gov. Hobbs’ irresponsible budgeting put into danger a critical safety net that we will have to address here at the legislature,” said Gress.
Christian Slater, Governor Hobbs’ communications director, claimed Republicans failed to articulate their desired reforms to the governor’s office or the public. Slater told KJZZ that Republicans were “weaponizing” the budget process to avoid admitting their disinterest in providing disability services to Arizonans.
“Republicans want ‘reforms’ to DDD before passing a supplemental,” said Slater. “What are the reforms? Nobody knows and they refuse to say.”
Hobbs expressed frustration with Republican leadership’s unwillingness to release emergency funding for DDD. The governor criticized the GOP’s willingness to fund school choice but not disability programming in a statement.
“These are kids with disabilities that need the services the state provides,” said Hobbs. “Republicans don’t bat an eye on issuing supplemental funding for overspending on ESAs and these are critical services that families in Arizona need.”
Per the Arizona Republic, DDD’s funding woes emerged following cuts to the COVID-era, federally-funded Parents as Paid Caregivers Program. The legislature rejected Hobbs’ move to use state funds to continue the program last year; between shrinking pandemic recovery funds and increased enrollment, DDD came into a shortfall.
Republican lawmakers have also proposed to reduce DDD funding by up to half.
House Speaker Steve Montenegro blamed DDD and other emerging agency budget problems on Hobbs’ “habit of overspending [and] ignoring reality.” Montenegro said Hobbs engaged in a “pattern” of poor budgeting, which is why he says Republicans must take a closer look before they “rubber stamp” more funds.
“The people of Arizona didn’t elect us to stand by while the Governor manufactures crisis after crisis. House Republicans will ensure accountability and enforce responsible budgeting, but we expect the Governor to take ownership of her failures,” said Montenegro. “That starts with making her staff available to the Legislature so we can fully understand the depth of this mismanagement and pursue the right solutions. Governor Hobbs may be comfortable with chaos, but we are not.”
