Arizona lawmakers return for 2026 legislative session
Arizona’s 2026 legislative session opened Monday, Jan. 12, with Democrats and Republicans having drastically opposite positions on many issues.
Gov. Katie Hobbs put her focus squarely on making life more affordable for Arizonans feeling the pinch of higher costs in the final State of the State speech of her first term as governor.
Hobbs’ 45-minute speech was given to Arizona lawmakers and their guests at the state House of Representatives, but its message appeared targeted to Arizona voters stressed by risings costs. Hobbs, a Democrat seeking reelection this November, repeatedly turned back to efforts to make life more affordable, and the governor portrayed that as one area to find common ground with the Republican majority at the Capitol.
Hobbs spoke about the issue in personal terms, noting that she worked at Pizza Hut to put herself through college and took extra jobs to support her family when she was a lawmaker.
“Affordability isn’t a joke or some hoax,” Hobbs said. “It’s a real and consequential challenge that families across Arizona must grapple with every day. Pocketbooks are strained, and Arizonans need their elected officials to take action.”
Hobbs called on lawmakers to “immediately” pass her version of a plan to replicate part of President Donald Trump’s massive tax package, signed into law in July.
The speech was light on new policy announcements, but Hobbs did reiterate her goals to create new fees on short-term rentals and data centers in order to fund aid for families to pay their utility bills and water conservation, respectively.
Hobbs did announce that the Arizona Department of Water Resources had created a groundwater management area in La Paz County, a process that had been underway and is the second administratively created regulation area in the state.
Hobbs talked vaguely about plans to reduce the state’s expenditures by $100 million over the next three years, which she dubbed the Arizona Capacity and Efficiency Initiative. She also spoke in support of funding K-12 public education, and foreshadowed changes she will propose to the state’s private school voucher program called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. More details of both proposals are expected to be released on Jan. 16, when Hobbs debuts her budget plan.
“In my plan, the original mission of the ESA program — to help kids with disabilities and in military families — remains untouched,” Hobbs said. “But even the program’s most ardent supporters must agree: it’s time we tackle the waste, fraud, and abuse to ensure taxpayer dollars are going towards true educational purposes.”
In targeting waste, fraud and abuse, Hobbs borrowed a piece of political rhetoric often used by the Trump administration. She repeatedly portrayed Arizona’s government as efficient and effective when compared to the leadership in Washington, D.C.
“We delivered 10 million school meals to children who needed them while Washington cut food assistance and then held it hostage during the federal government shutdown,” Hobbs said of her work in 2025. “And the budget we passed was bipartisan and balanced, while the Washington budget was partisan and skyrocketed the national debt by trillions of dollars — leaving our children and grandchildren to pick up the tab for our federal government’s reckless and irresponsible spending.”
She also blasted the federal government for rejecting an emergency declaration after flooding swept through Globe and parts of Gila County last year. Hobbs used the issue as one of several throughout her speech to call for bipartisanship.
“I hope elected officials on both sides of this chamber, and in Congress, join me in calling on (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to right this wrong and reverse their callous decision to deny our communities emergency assistance,” Hobbs said. “To the people of Globe and Miami — you deserve better than this. We will continue to fight for you and all Arizonans — especially when Washington, D.C. won’t.”
While many of Hobbs’ goals prompted standing ovations from Democratic lawmakers in the chamber, the speech was received coolly by Republicans. Still, it was also notable that the lengthy address did not prompt antics as in prior years, when GOP lawmakers turned their backs on the governor or left the chamber entirely.
Hobbs did not discuss issues that have animated Democrats in past elections, such as LGBTQ rights or abortion access, save for passing references to allowing Arizonans the freedom “to decide who to love” and “to make your own medical decisions, including how and when to grow your family.”
“She sounded more like a Republican,” said Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix and a former staffer for GOP Gov. Doug Ducey.
Gress pointed to Hobbs’ calls for $100 million in spending reductions, and her nod to her request the Trump administration pay Arizona over $760 million for border costs. Hobbs also mentioned her past deployment of the Arizona National Guard to the border, and her task forces that she said have helped seize more than 16,000 pounds of fentanyl, 1,200 firearms and made over 1,400 arrests.
“While the federal government uses law enforcement resources to score political points in cities thousands of miles from the southern border, Arizona is laser-focused on securing the border, getting drugs off the streets, and cracking down on criminals poisoning our neighborhoods and our children,” she said.
This is a developing story. Return to azcentral.com for updates.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
