IN FOCUS - Jan. 10, 2025

It’s finally here.

The 1st Regular Session of the 57th Arizona Legislature will convene Monday at the State Capitol, with Opening Day festivities highlighted by Governor Katie Hobbs’ delivery of her third State of the State address. 

The Democratic Governor and GOP-led Legislature have clashed repeatedly, beginning with her first SOS speech in January 2023 when a handful of lawmakers walked out or turned their backs.

This session, Governor Hobbs reportedly will seek to burnish her bipartisan credentials by reaching across the aisle on issues like child care assistance, housing affordability and funding for law enforcement and border communities. The State of the State typically includes a fair amount of raw meat for the base, as well. Look for the Governor to tout her efforts to preserve abortion rights, and to criticize Republican lawmakers for the state’s ESA program and failure to extend Prop 123 for K-12 funding.

Meanwhile, the Senate GOP today issued a 26-page policy plan that emphasizes conservative principles such as education choice, regulatory reform, law & order, fiscal restraint, and more.

We’ll get a more detailed picture of Governor Hobbs’ policy agenda next Friday when she publishes her fiscal 2026 executive budget. The state currently sits on a minor surplus, and the Governor’s spending plan typically marks an opening bid in budget negotiations with the Legislature.