Governor Ducey Signs Fiscally Conservative, Balanced Budget

Plan Boosts Rainy Day Fund To Record $1 Billion, Invests In Key Priorities

PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey today signed Arizona’s fiscally conservative, balanced budget. The plan, passed by lawmakers late on Monday night, makes major investments in education, law enforcement, health care and infrastructure and brings the state’s Rainy Day Fund to a record $1 billion.

“On Monday, lawmakers passed a fiscally conservative, balanced budget,” said Governor Ducey. “Today, I’m proud to sign it. This is by far the best budget I have signed, and such a contrast to where our state was just four years ago. This budget learns from the mistakes of the past, and it makes an historic down payment on Arizona’s future. It’s proof that Arizona knows how to come together to do the things that matter.”

For a list of Arizonans who have expressed support for the budget, click HERE. 

For additional information on the budget, click HERE.  

Highlights of Arizona’s balanced, fiscally conservative budget include → 

K-12 Education

• $165 million to fully fund 20 percent teacher pay raises by school year 2020
• $136 million to speed up the restoration of recession-era cuts to District and Charter Additional Assistance 
• $88 million for school building renewal
• $76 million for new school construction
• $30 million in new dollars for high-performing schools through results based funding
• $20 million to hire more school counselors and cops on campus
• $10 million to grow Career and Technical Education programs at public high schools
• $1.5 million in permanent funds for Foster Youth Education
• $800,000 to hire 10 new employees at the State Board for Charter Schools
• $700,000 for county juvenile detention center education programs

Higher Education

• $35 million in funding for Arizona’s three public universities, ASU, U of A and NAU
• $15 million in permanent, ongoing funds to expand the Arizona Teachers Academy
• $15 million to expand the Pima Community College Aviation Technology Center
• $14.2 million for rural community colleges outside of Pima and Maricopa County
• $6 million over three years for STEM programming at Maricopa and Pima Community Colleges
• $5.8 million to expand Maricopa County Community College’s healthcare offerings
• $1 million for Diné College, a community college on the Navajo Nation
• $1 million for the National Guard Tuition Reimbursement
• $500,000 for Northern Arizona University’s Freedom School

Public Safety

• $74.7 million to provide raises to public safety personnel including

• $40.6 million for Correctional Officer pay increases;
• $21.5 million for State Troopers at the Department of Public Safety;
• $5.5 million for caseworker raises at the Department of Child Safety;
• $3.2 million for Youth Correctional Officers at the Department of Juvenile Corrections;
• $2.8 million for public safety personnel at the Department of Health.

• $11 million to hire 48 new state troopers
• $4 million for Department of Public Safety vehicle replacement
• $3.9 million for a West Valley Readiness Center operated by the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs
• $1 million for 10 additional healthcare monitoring staff at the Department of Corrections
• $1 million for additional Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board training
• $271,000 for a Sierra Vista Public Safety Communications Center

Infrastructure & Economic Development

• $130 million over three years to expand Interstate 17
• $95.3 million for targeted priority infrastructure projects
• $11.3 million to eliminate counties paying for a share of operating costs at the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections
• $3 million to expand broadband services in underserved rural areas
• $2.2 million for the Arts
• $1.1 million to promote tourism, including Arizona’s farm wineries
• $1 million for a business one-stop, helping entrepreneurs furthering Arizona’s economic growth
• $700,000 for a Mariposa Port of Entry Cold Inspection Facility

Health & Welfare

• $56 million in federal funds for childcare subsidies for low-income, working families
• $15 million deposit into the state Housing Trust Fund to prevent and alleviate homelessness
• $13 million for new developmental disability provider funding
• $7 million in provider funding for elderly in-home and nursing care through Arizona Long Term Care System Provider Funding
• $5 million in funding for health care research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute
• $2.4 million to expand the kinship stipend to all kinship caregivers
• $2 million for Alzheimer’s research
• $1.6 million to eliminate the KidsCare Freeze, protecting coverage for over 6,000 Arizona kids
• $1.6 million to help reduce suicides in Arizona’s military and veteran population
• $1.5 million for Benson and Northern Cochise Community Hospitals in Cochise County
• $1 million to reimburse family caregivers for 50% of their qualifying expenses
• $1 million for prenatal equipment at rural Arizona hospitals
• $1 million for Arizona food banks
• $700,000 for a primary care clinic in Colorado City

Natural Resources

• $37 million to implement the multi-party Drought Contingency Plan that will secure Arizona’s water future
• $20 million to promptly reimburse local Arizona fire districts for combating wildfires
• $2.6 million for Nogales wastewater treatment infrastructure 
• $2 million for the eradication of the Salt Cedar, a non-native invasive species that poses environmental and fire risks
• $1 million to increase funds for the Forestry Hazardous Vegetation Removal, for a total of $3 million annually, to remove vegetation that poses fire risks to property and life
• $1.2 million to replace a pedestrian viewing bridge at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
• $1 million for a forestry fire training center in Snowflake, Arizona
• $750,000 for a Mount Lemmon Fire District Water line
• $700,000 for upgrades to the Great Western Trail for Off Highway Vehicles
• $100,000 for Dairy Inspector pay raises and additional inspectors
• $30,000 for pay raises at the Department of Agriculture