Welcome to an All New Legislative Session: What Should You Expect from the Arizona Legislature in 2025?

As with every January, it’s the start of a brand new legislative session at the State Capitol. And this year portends to be a bit of a departure from recent years, as Republicans have extended their leads in both chambers at the legislature. So what should you expect?

First, there will be precious few issues where both parties get along, and while Republicans have a majority in both chambers, Katie Hobbs’ veto pen as governor can make purely partisan bills difficult to pass, so issues where both parties agree will likely be a priority. Republicans could relatively easily pass through whatever they like, but they do not have enough of a margin to override that veto, as shown by the fact that only 15.6% of bills introduced last year were signed into law.

Both parties agree that the cost of housing is too high, and both parties agree that water is a critical issue. Republicans are hoping to tackle both issues at once by rescinding a groundwater offset rule that developers are beholden to. Nothing is a given with this subject though, because even a bipartisan bill last year limiting municipalities’ ability to set restrictions on housing was vetoed by Hobbs.

One other potential solution that aims to address both problems? An “ag to urban” bill that will incentivize farmers to sell their land for the sake of home development. While the devil is always in the details, in this case likely how much that incentive would cost, it seems like something that on its face both parties could agree on.

The agreements from the parties may more or less end there however. In the state’s most hot-button issue, immigration, it’s clear that the caucuses are far apart. While Republicans want to have a sanctuary city ban and want active compliance with the Trump administration’s actions, the Democratic caucus has come out against even relatively common-sense bills such as the Laken Riley Act.

Education will also be a point of focus as the funding provided by Proposition 123 is set to expire midyear. Republicans will aim to add additional protection to funding for school vouchers, which is almost certain to be a non-starter for Democrats and Governor Hobbs, which is likely to set up a high-stakes game of chicken with a non-insignificant amount of school funding to hang in the balance.

With all that said, while numerous things will be different around the Capitol, one thing will be very much the same as the last few years: Governor Katie Hobbs will have a brutally difficult time advancing anything in her agenda, and she will be taking shots from Republicans all around the state. The more things change, the more they stay the same.