- Arizona faces a potential government shutdown if a budget isn’t passed by June 30.
- Critical services, including prisons and healthcare, are expected to continue operating even in a shutdown.
- Less essential services, like state parks and the Historical Society, would likely close.
Most critical services in Arizona would continue if an impasse over the state budget leads to an unprecedented government shutdown.
But few details on the impact are readily available with less than five days left before the deadline.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, who vetoed two Republican-only House budget plans on June 25, asked state agencies to draw up shutdown plans, but her office declined to immediately release the documents.
Lawmakers must pass a budget plan, and Hobbs must approve it by June 30 to avoid a shutdown.
Sen. John Kavanagh, a veteran of 19 budget cycles, said shutdown threats often emerge but never happen. If no budget is in place by July 1, many operations would still continue.
From state prisons to Department of Public Safety troopers, work would go on as usual, said Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. That’s based on his experience over the years.
The state hospital would keep running, and state payments ranging to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program, would continue, as would priorities such as funding for group homes for foster youth.
Smaller agencies, such as the state Historical Society, would probably shutter until a budget were in place, he said.
If a shutdown were to persist, other services would taper off, much like a glacier slowly melting, he said.
Lessons from New Jersey
Former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, who’s experienced two shutdowns while a lawmaker in his state, said they’re not too bad as long as they end quickly.
Law enforcement must continue to function, as do other essential services, he said.
“It could be bad if it’s prolonged, because now you have workers not getting paid,” he said.
Sweeney, a Democrat, was Senate president in 2017 when New Jersey lawmakers failed to approve a state budget by the June 30 deadline. The conflict there centered on a disagreement over whether an insurance company should help pay for drug treatment services.
State parks and many state offices closed, employment claim services were frozen, and all sorts of permits were delayed. The state also shut down for eight days in 2006.
“When you shut down, everyone’s embarrassed because it looks like you can’t do your job,” Sweeney said.
Yet when a shutdown begins, “a lot of times it forces a compromise,” he added. That’s what happened in 2017, when Sweeney worked with former Republican Gov. Chris Christie to negotiate, ending the shutdown July 3.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X@raystern.
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