Steve Montenegro, U.S.Representative from Arizona's 29th congressional district (R) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Montenegro
Steve Montenegro, U.S.Representative from Arizona's 29th congressional district (R) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Montenegro
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) has directed the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) to utilize its existing funds to maintain services for vulnerable children. The committee, led by Chairman Livingston and supported by Republican members, holds Governor Hobbs responsible for what they describe as fiscal mismanagement.
Chairman Livingston stated, “Governor Hobbs’s repeated failures to manage the budget responsibly have pushed agencies into crisis after crisis. Her administration’s approach is to overspend, ignore reality, and then demand a last-minute bailout. That’s not leadership—that’s recklessness.”
He further emphasized that it is not the Legislature's responsibility to compensate for the Governor's financial decisions: “Let me be clear: It is not the Legislature’s job to cover for the Governor’s poor decisions. DCS already has the money it needs to address this failure, and today we made sure it can use those funds."
An investigation by JLBC uncovered additional issues of mismanagement. It was found that Governor Hobbs's administration failed to disclose available federal funds which could have supported Congregate Care while redirecting American Rescue Plan Act dollars into Kinship Support Services instead.
“That decision by the Governor is stunning,” remarked Chairman Livingston. He questioned the priorities and decision-making of Hobbs's administration.
Concerns extend beyond DCS with warnings about potential bankruptcy in April within the Developmental Disabilities (DDD) program. Livingston commented on this issue saying, “We continue to hear rumblings that DDD will go bankrupt next month, but Governor Hobbs refuses to say when or explain how her administration allowed costs to double from $2 billion to $4 billion in just three years."
In response, House Speaker Steve Montenegro announced a new House Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement aimed at investigating these fiscal challenges attributed to Hobbs's leadership.
Livingston concluded with a call for greater transparency and accountability from Governor Hobbs regarding agency budgets: “We care deeply about the children in DCS’ care... The pattern of mismanagement, secrecy, and last-minute bailout requests stops now.”
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