Wednesday, the Arizona House passed budget bills with historic funding for housing, hundreds of millions of funding for education, infrastructure investments, and an expansion of the KidsCare children’s health insurance program. Governor Katie Hobbs released the following statement in response:
“I’m glad the House passed the bipartisan budget and I look forward to signing it into law. Not everybody got what they wanted, but I’m thankful legislative leaders were able to set aside their differences, compromise, and support a bipartisan deal that makes historic investments in affordable housing, builds roads, bridges, and public transit, expands access to health insurance for Arizona’s children and creates critical new ESA accountability measures. By working together in a constructive way, I know we can accomplish so much for the people of Arizona and grow jobs, protect our natural resources, and build a state that works for every community.”
BACKGROUND
The bipartisan budget compromise contains critical investments for the people of Arizona, including:
- $150 million investment in the Housing Trust Fund
- Over $650m in funds investing in roads, bridges, broadband infrastructure, and public transit throughout the state
- An increase in KidsCare eligibility to expand access to health insurance for approximately 9,500 children in FY24, and over 12,000 in FY25
- A $300 million one-time infusion in K-12 spending, along with $341.9m for school facilities
- $88.6m new, ongoing K-12 funding
- $126.1m in Tribal Investments
- $60m in the Homeless Shelter and Services Fund (New Fund)
- New ESA Reporting Metrics
- FY24 Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL) override for schools
