NE Valley Times

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), led by State Representative David Livingston, convened to address financial concerns within the Department of Child Safety’s Congregate Care program. The committee instructed the department to utilize existing funds to maintain services for children in its care. Representative Livingston and other committee Republicans attributed the financial issues to Governor Katie Hobbs’ administration.

"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," said Chairman Livingston.

Livingston emphasized that it is not the Legislature's responsibility to rectify what he described as poor decisions by the Governor. He noted that DCS already has sufficient funds to address the issue and criticized the delay in addressing it until 19 days before potential bankruptcy.

The JLBC's investigation found additional mismanagement, including undisclosed federal funds that could have supported Congregate Care. Instead, these funds were directed towards Kinship Support Services, a program previously unfunded by the state.

"That decision by the Governor is stunning," Livingston remarked. "Instead of prioritizing the program on the brink of insolvency, she chose to send federal dollars elsewhere. This raises serious questions about her administration’s priorities and decision-making."

Lawmakers are also concerned about potential financial issues within the Developmental Disabilities (DDD) program, which may face bankruptcy in April. "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," said Livingston.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro announced an Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement to investigate these financial issues further. Details regarding this committee will be released soon.

"We care deeply about the children in DCS’ care. That’s why we acted quickly today," concluded Livingston. "The JLBC’s directive ensures that children in need will continue receiving care, but the Legislature will not reward fiscal irresponsibility by throwing more taxpayer dollars at a crisis of the Governor’s making."

David Livingston serves as a Republican member of Arizona's House of Representatives for Legislative District 28 and chairs the House Appropriations Committee.

Information from this article can be found here.