PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs has outdone herself, setting a new record Wednesday with her vetoes of two budget proposals.
Hobbs has now rejected 168 of the measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature so far this session. That bests the record she herself set in 2023, her first year in office, when she wielded her veto stamp 143 times and blew past the prior record of 58 vetoes set in 2005 by her fellow Democrat Janet Napolitano.
Hobbs’ current tally was boosted by the fact that each of the two budget proposals she vetoed Wednesday consisted of 14 separate bills. That meant she added 28 bills to her prior veto tally of 140.
By contrast, the latest figures show she has signed 221 measures sent to her this year. Put another way, she has rejected close to four out of every 10 bills that have reached her desk.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs
The governor has never been apologetic for the frequent use of her veto stamp.
“You’ll have to ask the Republicans why they keep sending me the same bills that I’ve already vetoed,’’ she said when asked about her actions.
And then there’s the politics of being a Democrat in a state where Republicans control the House and Senate.
“I think there’s some intent to make it look like I’m being the obstructionist by sending the same things over and over again,’’ Hobbs said.
There have been repeats, such as efforts to legislate who can use which restrooms and what pronoun teachers can use when referring to students whose identity does not match the sex assigned at birth.
Hobbs said she has been willing to work with anyone on crucial issues such as border security and water security.
She is backing a bipartisan bill — over objections of some fellow Democrats — to allow farmers to “retire’’ their land and sell their water rights to developers to build more homes.
She also agreed to support a Republican measure, modeled after ideas floated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., to ban the use of artificial colors in food served at public schools.
But Hobbs made it clear there’s another role she has as the ultimate decider of legislation.
“I will also continue to be a backstop against bills that strip away Arizonans’ freedoms, that don’t solve problems, and that are just flat-out extreme,’’ she said.
