LD18 Democrats Blast GOP Budget as “Corporations First, Arizona Last”

At a packed gathering in LD18, state Sen. Priya Sundareshan and Reps. Nancy Gutierrez and Chris Mathis delivered a blunt message: Republicans are prioritizing corporations, gutting public education, and leaving Arizona families behind.

Gutierrez set the tone, torching the GOP spending plan unveiled after more than 100 days of delay. “It is a corporations-first, data-centers-first, Arizona-last budget,” she said.

The Democrats rejected it outright. And the criticism is landing. Gutierrez said Republicans were so rattled by the messaging that they began echoing Democratic talking points on the House floor.

“Why are you saying data centers so much?” she mocked, describing GOP frustration. “They even said things like ‘It’s good to be wealthy’ and ‘everyone can be wealthy’ if you work hard enough.”

A Billion-Dollar Drain on Public Schools

The sharpest attacks focused on Arizona’s disastrous school voucher program—a centerpiece of Republican policy.

Gutierrez, a former teacher, didn’t hold back. “This is a billion-dollar program with a 20% fraud rate,” she said. “That should be outrageous to every single Arizonan.”

The program, she argued, operates with minimal accountability while siphoning money from public schools that have already endured decades of cuts. “Republicans have destroyed public education over the past two decades,” Gutierrez said.

Yet Democratic pressure is forcing concessions. “The badgering works,” Gutierrez said. The Republican budget now includes funding for school meals and additional aid for low-income districts—priorities Democrats have pushed relentlessly.

Water Crisis: “The Wild West”

Mathis warned that Arizona’s water crisis may be even more dangerous—and far less understood. “Rural groundwater is pretty much unregulated. It’s pretty much the wild west,” he said.

He pointed to controversial practices, such as growing water-intensive crops like alfalfa for export—legal in Arizona but banned in countries with stricter water laws.

Democrats have introduced legislation to regulate groundwater use, but Mathis said Republican leadership has repeatedly blocked action.

“If we were able to flip the legislature, our groundwater bill would be passed,” he said.

Universities Starved

Sundareshan highlighted another looming crisis: the steady defunding of higher education.

“We only fund our three state universities for 12% of their budgets,” she said. “How do we call them state universities?”

The proposed Republican budget would cut $100 million from universities and even attempt to claw back funds already spent.

“How do you take back money that’s not there?” she asked. I’d love to see them do that, but they can’t. We Democrats have always stood up to these cuts. But the Republicans think every college is ‘woke,’ but it’s just education. So it’s definitely on the chopping block, and that will be detrimental to our state.

The consequences extend beyond campuses. Universities and community colleges supply Arizona’s workforce—from healthcare to high-tech industries.

Fighting in the Minority

The Democrats acknowledge they are operating from a position of limited power—but insist they are making an impact.

 “Everything feels dark and terrible when we read the national news,” she said, citing policies driven by Donald Trump. “But know that you have state legislators who are fighting back,” Sundareshan said.

Mathis offered a vivid description of what happens to Democratic bills in a Republican-controlled legislature:

“There’s a thing when you introduce a bill, you drop it in this thing called the hopper, and there’s a little frog toy there that ribbets, and so you drop it, and it makes a ribbit sound. And I try to figure out this metaphysical question: is my bill dead the second it leaves my hand, or does it have to hit the frog first for the ribbit? But that’s really what we’re talking about. So it’s pretty frustrating.”

2026: The Turning Point

Despite the obstacles, Democrats are already focused on the November elections—and the chance to take control. “When we get the majority, we’re going to fund public education and water protection,” Sundareshan said.

That would also mean reversing voucher expansion, investing in schools, and enacting long-blocked legislation on water, voting rights, and gun safety.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has been a critical backstop, vetoing 45 GOP bills in 2026 and blocking the most extreme proposals. This high number follows her previous record-shattering years of 143 vetoes in 2023 and 174 in 2025. But the LD18 team made clear: vetoes aren’t enough.

A reckoning coming in November

Arizona Democrats are drawing a sharp contrast—and calling on voters to reject the billion-dollar voucher program, cuts to universities, unregulated groundwater and tax breaks for the wealthy.

The message from Tucson was unmistakable: Republicans are governing for corporations. Democrats are gearing up to take it back.

And in 2026, they plan to prove it at the ballot box.