Feb 21, 2025, AZ Central: 'Pushing us off a cliff': Politicians squabble as funding for special needs kids runs dry
An incredulous comment from a state lawmaker made public a brewing dispute over state spending.
"I hope you're not suggesting that we cut the services to our children..." Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson said in a budget meeting before she was cut off.
"Yes I am," said Rep. David Livingston, the Peoria Republican who heads the House Appropriations Committee.
"… literally to save funding?" Stahl Hamilton continued.
"Yes I am," Livingston repeated.
The exchange came after a legislative presentation last month about a $122 million shortfall in the budget for the state's Division of Developmental Disabilities, often known as DDD. If lawmakers don't close the gap by late April, programs that serve some of the state's most vulnerable people will run out of money, putting continued services in jeopardy.
Republican lawmakers said they were aghast at the shortfall, and questioned why Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs overspent by $122 million without letting them know.
Democrats were equally aghast at consequences for disabled children and adults in the program.
A failed bid for more money
The Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment from Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, to add $122 million to the agency's current year budget. Gutierrez said Arizonans who rely on developmental disability and long-term care programs face "a life-changing situation if not fixed by the end of April."
She asked Livingston to at least allow two people in the audience to address lawmakers. The parents, some with their disabled children in tow, had been waiting all day for a chance to speak. Her request was denied.
Republicans said they would fix the problem but within the confines of the regular budget process. Typically, lawmakers and the governor don't wrap up negotiations on a budget until late May or June.
Rep. Julie Willoughby, R-Chandler, said she is working on a bill to address the funding shortfall, although she didn't provide details. Packing a hearing room with demands for immediate action is not the way to win support, she said.
As lawmakers explained their "no" votes, audience members trained their cell phone cameras on the action. Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, made note of the recordings and put the blame on Hobbs.
"You know it, I know it, everyone at this Capitol knows that she has really created a mess," Gress said, his voice rising. Hobbs should be ashamed of herself and should apologize to the families, he said.
Some of the audience walked out, while others murmured protests.
"Is it more important that Hobbs gets blamed or that our kids stay alive?" Courtney Burnett, an Apache Junction mother of a child with a rare genetic disorder, asked after the hearing.
Despite his complaint, Gress was the only Republican to vote with Democrats to support the immediate addition of $122 million to the agency's budget. The effort failed on an 8-10 vote.
Hobbs on Friday issued a lengthy statement condemning the inaction as "inhumane and fiscally irresponsible."
"By refusing to pass this bill, legislators are telling hardworking families caring for loved ones with autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and other intellectual or developmental disabilities, that their needs don’t matter," she said.
Anxiety mixes with anger
After the push for additional funding failed, parents and caregivers held an impromptu town hall outside the House of Representatives with Gutierrez and several other Democrats.
Some were sobbing, others speculated about potential job loss and increased family stress. Many complained that despite the lawmakers' public expressions of sympathy for their situation, their calls to their state representatives have gone unanswered.
"You are pushing us off a cliff," said Michele Thorne, cofounder and CEO of a program called Care 4 the Caregivers. Calls to emergency counseling services have increased, she said, citing what she's heard from fellow parents.
The parents said they didn't blame Hobbs. They had met with her staff earlier in the day and understood that Gutierrez's $122 million ask was done at the governor's request.
Expecting families to go without services for two months until a new budget can be enacted is unrealistic, Burnett said. She was referring to the possibility of a two-month gap between late April, when the program's funds are expected to run out, and the June 30 deadline to have a new budget in place for the July 1 start of the next budget year. . . .
What drove up costs?
At the heart of the dispute between lawmakers and Hobbs is the Legislature's complaint that Hobbs went ahead with more spending for DDD programs without notification.
A key component was the Parents as Paid Caregivers program. Launched during the COVID pandemic with federal dollars, it provided funding to parents who care for disabled children at home. Federal support was slated to be cut back as the current budget year started last July.
Anticipating this, Hobbs in January 2024 proposed using state tax dollars to continue the program. However, lawmakers saw differently and, according to their budget office, no agreement was made.
But in a report compiled last summer after the current year budget was approved, the legislative budget office noted the governor intended to cover the cost of the parent program using American Rescue Plan dollars, as well as other pandemic-related funds. That kept the popular program in place.
Coupled with a rate increase for the people who work in group homes for the developmentally disabled, growing enrollment in the DDD program and some federal funding shifts, the state's obligation ballooned.
The agency last month was looking at a $122 million shortfall that could cut off services by late April.
Mid-year adjustments routine
Hobbs and her Democratic allies said boosting a program's budget in mid-year is not unusual.
Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, said GOP lawmakers in the previous budget year added $200 million to the state's private school voucher program. No one objected then, she said.
Hobbs has made the same point repeatedly in recent weeks, accusing Republicans of "weaponizing what is a routine budget process."
She doubled down Friday, issuing a list of supplemental spending approved during each of the eight years former Gov. Doug Ducey was in office.
It's happened under her watch, too. She noted that $274 million in extra money was sent to shore up the Empowerment Scholarship Account school voucher program two years ago, due to ballooning enrollment.
"(T)hese same legislators remain silent on the runaway costs and lack of accountability within the universal ESA entitlement program, which has had cost overruns totaling over $385 million the last two years," Hobbs wrote.
She called on lawmakers to stop their "partisan games" and act swiftly to approve additional DDD funding.
The DDD program serves nearly 60,000 people, and the loss of funding could lead to institutionalization for many of them if support for caregiving by parents is cut off, Hobbs said in the statement. . . .
Comments