The Arizona Legislature adjourned for the weekend late Friday after four days of intensive negotiations and debate over the state budget. No final votes on the spending package were taken, and the sessions will resume Monday.
A group of Republican House members insistent on more funding for K-12 education kept the budget from reaching floor votes Friday night. The group wants more money for small schools, including charters, for district charter schools and for school facilities construction.
The $9.58 billion budget deal worked out between Republican legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was announced Monday and introduced in the Senate. House introduction came the next day, and the rest of the week was spent in committee hearings and behind-the-scenes negotiations between Republican leadership and the group seeking more education funding.
That group when combined with Democratic votes leaves Republican leaders short of the votes needed to move the budget.
Education funding has dominated the budget discussions and is coming as voters cast early ballots for a special election on a proposal that would expand payments from the State Land Trust Fund.
Passage of the funding proposal, called Proposition 123, would settle a 6-year-old lawsuit on a claim the Legislature broke the law by not providing inflation funding to schools. Under Proposition 123, schools would get $3.5 billion over the next 10 years, including more than $250 million in the first year.
Several news media outlets reported that legislative leaders were confident the budget can be passed in the coming days and issues with school funding can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
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