PHOENIX (AP) Arizona's legislature approved a bipartisan $18 billion spending plan early recently that will make substantial investments in building new highways in the region.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate ended a months-long impasse, working through the night to approve the budget.
Only a handful of dissenters from each party voted against the package of bills, and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was expected to approve it.
"This is what our state, where voters are nearly evenly divided by party affiliation, has long asked of us — to work together," said Rep. Reginald Bolding of Laveen, the top Democrat in the House.
The improbable bipartisanship was enabled by an unprecedented surplus topping $5 billion, allowing for a broad array of new spending and savings.
That includes $544 million for border security (roughly half of it for a wall) and $1 billion for highway construction, including widening Interstate 10 north of Casa Grande. State employees will get a raise, many for the first time in a decade. Hundreds of millions are set aside for water infrastructure as the state faces prolonged drought.
The budget also makes a $1.1 billion deposit into the pension fund for public safety and corrections officers, paying off the state's unfunded liability for future retirement benefits. And it puts another $425 million in the rainy day fund to help the state weather a potential recession.
The package of budget bills passed with overwhelming support, highly unusual in the modern era.
Ducey hailed the deal, saying his policies of limited spending and regulation cuts can be credited for the surplus, although massive federal COVID-19 relief money also was a major contributor.
"The result is a booming economy with record revenues,'" Ducey said in a statement. "With this budget, we're putting those dollars to good use and investing in priorities that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on."
Their agreement also adds $80 million in combined additional funding for Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, bringing their funding boosts in line with additional money already allocated to University of Arizona.
Lawmakers also agreed to technical changes in a formula for distributing money to schools and $4 million each for school testing and 2022 election costs. A proposed expansion of a tax credit to subsidize private school tuition was removed from the must-pass budget, likely dooming it.
