Arizona

Arizona

Budget Cycle
Annual

Governor Submits Budget
January (5 days after legislature convenes)

Fiscal Year Begins
July 1
 
Governor Signs Budget 
No Official Deadline
 


Budget Links
FY2024 (enacted)
FY2024 (proposed)
FY2023 (enacted)
FY2022 (enacted)
FY2021 (enacted)
FY2020 (enacted)
FY2019 (enacted)


Proposed Budget - Fiscal Year 2024

On January 13, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs released her budget proposal for fiscal 2024. The budget calls for $65.4 billion in total agency operating expenditures from all appropriated and non-appropriated funds. General fund spending, including baseline changes and new initiatives as well as ongoing and one-time expenditures, is recommended at $17.1 billion, a 10.4 percent increase compared to the revised level recommended by the governor for fiscal 2023. The governor’s general fund budget includes a net baseline spending increase of $37 million and a net increase in executive initiatives of $1.3 billion. The budget, which includes $15.0 billion in ongoing spending, is based on ongoing forecasted general fund revenues of $15.1 billion, reflecting a 5.9 percent decline from fiscal 2023 estimated revenues. This ongoing revenue estimate incorporates new tax credits and exemptions proposed by the governor while excluding a one-time $345 million reduction for the 2.5 percent flat tax acceleration approved last year. With an annual structural balance of $65 million, the executive budget recommendation has a projected ending balance of $273 million in the general fund. The state is projected to have a $1.6 billion rainy day fund balance at the end of fiscal 2024, representing 10.7 percent of ongoing general fund spending.


Proposed Budget Highlights 

The governor’s first recommended budget prioritizes investments in education, water, affordable housing, and other areas, while focusing on lowering costs for state residents and building a more “resilient, innovative and prosperous” state. Below are some of the spending initiatives and revenue changes proposed by the governor to support these key priorities.

Education

  • $199 million towards base support, which can be used for a range of items in public schools including but not limited to teacher compensation and staff retention
  • $332 million one-time increase in School Facilities Building Renewal Grant funding and $173 million for new school construction
  • $40 million to expand the Arizona Promise Program
  • $40 million for a new tuition scholarship program for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) eligible students
  • Repeals Empowerment Scholarship Account (school choice) program ($130 million) and eliminates Results-Based Funding program ($69 million), and redirects savings to base school funding to improve teacher retention
  • Additional investments in dual enrollment, teacher education, school lunch, instructional materials, rural community colleges, school broadband service, and special education

Health and Welfare

  • $150 million deposit into Housing Trust Fund for utility and emergency rental assistance, legal aid, home repair, and other allowable uses
  • $50 million general fund set-aside for a refundable child tax credit for low-income families
  • $40 million to make feminine hygiene products and diapers tax exempt
  • $20 million to expand income eligibility for KidsCare (CHIP) program

Government That Works

  • $250 million one-time deposit into the state’s rainy day fund, the Budget Stabilization Account
  • $200 million one-time for employee retention pay and a compensation study, as well as targeted pay increases for certain workers
  • $114 million in one-time funding for building renewal for certain state agencies
  • $67 million in one-time to upgrade HVAC systems in corrections facilities
  • $50 million in one-time deposit into Health Insurance Trust Fund
  • $50 million in one-time deposit into Rural Broadband Accelerated Match Fund
  • Additional one-time funds for cybersecurity and other IT upgrades, economic development initiatives, and additional capital projects

Natural Resources

  • $333 million deposit into the Long-Term Water Augmentation Fund as part of a three-year $1 billion investment
  • Additional funds for rural wells grants, statewide water resource planning, water quality and conservation programs
  • $10 million one-time deposit into State Parks Heritage Fund as well as additional one-time funds dedicated to a variety of park projects
  • One-time funding to install electric and advance-fuel vehicle infrastructure for public use at state facilities ($7.5 million) and for use by the state fleet ($15 million)

Public Safety

  • $69 million in additional funding for state prison operations, including $57 million one-time
  • $12 million one-time funding for replacing public safety vehicles