PHOENIX — The scorecard on Arizona's first divided government in 15 years is in: It was one for the record books.
The Republican-controlled Legislature was in session for a record 204 days, but was barely working over the last three months.
The GOP Senate president said lawmakers had to keep watch over what first-term Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs might do.
Hobbs smashed records herself, with 143 vetoes in a single session. She rejected 2 of every 5 bills that made it to her desk.
Hobbs declared herself a bulwark against Republicans' "bad ideas."
After all the head-butting with Republicans, what did the governor view as the biggest missed opportunity?
"I could have broken more veto records," Hobbs said with a laugh.
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In an end-of-session interview on this weekend's "Sunday Square Off," Hobbs looked back at 2023:
- Why the compromise on the last day of the just-concluded session might set an example for next year's legislative session.
- Whether she'll come to regret signing off on spending the state's entire $2.5 billion budget surplus on what amount to pork projects for lawmakers.
- Whether the record heat this summer tells us Arizona is in a climate emergency.
- Why state agencies function despite a blockade on her director nominations by the Republican Senate.
- What she knew about the extreme heat at the Perryville prison for women.
- The governor, who has ambitious plans for the first Democratic majority at the Capitol in half a century, also looked ahead to 2024:
- Will she try to put a cap on the year-old school voucher expansion?
- What question would she put to voters in a planned statewide ballot initiative on reproductive rights in November 2024?
- Can she end the state land lease by a Saudi agriculture business that's guzzling western Arizona groundwater for crops being shipped back to Saudi Arabia? The firm's lease for one of its operations ends in February.
- And is she aware of a state pension fund investment in a company that leases land to other growers that get virtually free access to ground water?
But the session ended last week with a rare compromise on a transit tax extension for Maricopa County and the statewide repeal of local home rental taxes.
Katie Hobbs looks back at longest legislative session ever (and most vetoes in one session) and looks ahead to 2024.
Was there any unfinished business?
"Sunday Square Off" airs at 8 a.m. Sundays on 12News, after NBC's "Meet the Press" with Chuck Todd.
Sunday Square Off
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