Hobbs Shunned Gress-Chaired Ad Hoc Oversight Committee

Fourteen minutes before a scheduled ad hoc committee meeting on executive budget mismanagement on April 3, 2025, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced that her agencies were prohibited from participating. The committee, consisting of three Democrats and six Republicans, was formed by House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-29) due to a $122 million Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) budget shortfall. The Arizona Globe previously reported on the missing funding here.

Hobbs issued an email at 8:16 AM, just fourteen minutes before the meeting, telling Committee Chair Matt Gress (R-4) that the group was a “shameless political circus” and that anyone attached to her office would not be attending. The trio of Democrat committee members did the same, with Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez (D-18) attending a press conference on the topic instead.

The letter read: “[Y]ou, Representative Livingston and caucus leadership have…scheduled circus-like committee hearings with the clear goal of scoring political points. As your political gamesmanship continues to push these [DDD-served] families closer and closer to the cliff, I once again call on your caucus to stop wasting time, to recall that we were elected to govern and to pass the supplemental appropriation these Arizonans need.”

Nowhere in the letter did Hobbs mention where the massive shortfall originated or who was to blame. Republicans, meanwhile, say the failure sits squarely at the feet of the Hobbs administration and the Governor herself, thanks to the enrollment of more parental caregivers than the program could fiscally support.

“By unilaterally extending the Parents as Paid Caregivers (PPCG) program without securing the necessary legislative approval or funding, the administration bypassed essential checks and balances,” said Rep. Michael Way. “Arizona’s most vulnerable citizens — those with developmental disabilities — and their families are the hardest hit.”

Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos (D-11) saw things differently, posting on X, “The Republican sham ad hoc committee is a complete and total joke.”

Republican members say that the express purpose of the ad hoc committee was to obtain information from agency directors to not only examine where the money went but to understand the funding of the PPCG program. However, with no expert testimony available from the Hobbs administration, digging down to the root cause of the nine-figure shortage was near-impossible.

“Governor Hobbs’ decision to exclude her staff from recent legislative discussions is deeply troubling. By refusing to engage, she undermines the collaborative process essential for addressing critical issues like the DDD funding crisis,” Way said. “This lack of transparency hinders our ability to find effective solutions for the Arizonans who depend on these services.”

It remains unclear where the investigation stands or where it will lead.