LIVING UNITED FOR CHANGE IN ARIZONA: Arizona Budget Delivers Needed Investments – Concedes Bigger Fight To MAGA's Authoritarianism Agenda to Defund Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2025

Cesar Fierros | press@luchaaz.org

PHOENIX — The proposed FY2026 Arizona State Budget includes several hard-won investments and is proof that community organizing and advocacy work.

LUCHA spent countless hours at the capitol advocating with lawmakers for the priorities of Arizonans and pushing lawmakers to do more to address the needs of communities from across the state. However, this budget also makes clear that too many lawmakers still treat this moment of crisis as “politics-as-usual”, while working Arizonans fight to keep a roof over their heads Republican lawmakers have one overriding priority: to systematically defund government and dismantle public institutions so many working families depend on.

“Families are struggling with rising costs, displacement, and healthcare gaps. This budget preserves critical programs, but also maintains the machine of family separation,” said Alejandra Gomez, Executive Director of LUCHA. “We celebrate the wins our communities delivered. But there is a crisis of conviction at the state legislature: Some Democrats have not shown the will to fight for our community. Unless we build the political will to take on the bigger fights for a new vision, we’ll keep conceding the future our communities deserve. That fight also means defeating Republicans at the ballot box and removing their grip on governing power. Until then, Arizona will never have a people’s budget.”

As some leaders have acknowledged, the unwillingness to confront Republican tax handouts for the ultra-rich comes at a cost to every Arizona family and stands in the way of a fully funded People First Budget.

“This body in the most important ways refuses to directly address the very issues that impact our ability to adequately invest in the state’s needs as a whole, whether it is in education, housing affordability, healthcare, or more.” said Senate Democratic Minority Leader Priya Sunderashen. “As the time changes and our decision-making practices don't, we consistently fail to create a state where all people can thrive … Every year that we find ourselves being forced to cut back services, our voters can be confident in knowing that Republicans have not left the rich out to dry the way they are for the working class.”

Key Investments Secured This Session

• K-12 Education: At least $69.4M in new state dollars for K-12 education

• Housing: $26M for rental/cost of living assistance for Arizonans facing eviction, transitional housing for Arizonans experiencing homelessness, legal aid, and targeted programs for seniors and veterans.

• Higher Education: $16.3M for the Arizona Promise Program and the creation of Arizona’s first Community College Promise Program

• School Meals for Students: $3.8M to eliminate cost of school lunch for low income students

• Child Care: $47.9M invested in childcare assistance, cutting the childcare wait list by 50%

• Healthcare: Protected funding for Arizona’s affordable healthcare coverage through AHCCCCs, Arizona’s Medicaid program

• Social Safety Net: Protected funding for vital social safety net programs being slashed at the federal level like food assistance

• Environment: Allocated $9 million for water quality, $2 million for smelter cleanup, and $1 million for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund

  
  

We Defeated

• Blocked new proposals to expand state funding that would supercharge Donald Trump’s mass family separation agenda. (But existing funding remains in place).

  
  

LUCHA is committed to fighting for an Arizona where budgets centers working families and where every person, no matter their status or income, can thrive.