PHOENIX — A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled the state may move forward with plans to spend opioid settlement funds on next year’s prisons budget.
The ruling is a defeat for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, who clashed with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican legislative leaders over the plan. Lawmakers recently passed a budget that applies $115 million of a national lawsuit settlement’s payout to meet budgetary expenses at the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
Mayes and lawmakers from both parties argued the move was unconstitutional because the settlement funds must more narrowly address treatment and prevention of the opioid epidemic. Hobbs and lawmakers who voted for the budget said the state was acting within the law and noted prison inmates are inordinately affected by the opioid crisis compared to the general public.
On Monday, Judge John Hannah dissolved a temporary order issued by the courts last week preventing the state from re-routing the funds. Hannah wrote in his order although he agrees with some of the policy arguments outlined by Mayes, he does not believe Mayes has the legal authority to halt the Legislature’s spending. Hannah added there is no evidence the Legislature and governor plan to spend the settlement funds improperly.
"The Attorney General is flatly wrong on the law and mischaracterized the opioid funding in the bipartisan budget,” said Christian Slater, spokesperson for Hobbs, in a written statement to 12News. “Today's ruling gets it right. Governor Hobbs is a social worker who secured a bipartisan agreement to treat victims of the opioid crisis and will continue to defend that funding."
Mayes said she plans to closely monitor how “each penny” of the settlement is spent by the ADCRR.
“I continue to believe the move by the Legislature and the Governor to sweep these funds in this manner is wrong,” Mayes said in a statement. “I also believe that this move in a very real way puts at risk future settlement payments.”
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-District 14, called the judge’s decision an example of government “checks and balances” at work.
“This was a frivolous case brought by the Attorney General,” Petersen said in a statement. “Facts matter. Laws matter. And our taxpayers are best served when our elected officials uphold the rule of law.”
House Speaker Ben Toma (R) said he’s pleased with the judge’s decision.
“Now the funds will lawfully spent by the Department of Corrections, as intended in the budget and to help individuals impacted by opioids,” Toma said.
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