Hoffman: “The Chaos & Mismanagement of the House” is Delaying Prop 123

Speaker Montenegro calls two-week break after one-day return; Rep. Chaplik cites “a lot of inefficiency.”

The Arizona House returned to session after a two-week break—only for Speaker Montenegro to announce another two-week recess. He told legislators that the House is still in negotiations with the Senate.

Source: GROK

Senator Jake Hoffman told State 48 News that the failure to reach a consensus on Prop 123 lies “almost entirely with the chaos and mismanagement of House leadership.”

The often frank legislator didn’t mince words on where to place the blame.

Hoffman said the conservative version of Prop 123 “has the full support of the Republican caucus and virtually every member of the House Republican caucus.” He blamed the lack of a clear plan on either “leadership dysfunction” or a “small handful of pro-regulation, big-government Republicans.”

Here is Hoffman’s statement in full:

Arizona lawmakers had a choice: back Speaker Montenegro or go full Freedom Caucus. After two rounds of voting, the House ultimately chose Speaker Ben Toma’s successor, Montenegro, over Rep. Joseph Chaplik—by a final 18–15 margin.

Chaplik, a leading voice in the Freedom Caucus, didn’t hold back in his reaction—offering sharp insight into how he thinks the session is really going.

Chaplik told State 48, “My goal going into the session was to make the legislature more efficient and wrap up all our duties by the 100 day mark. Unfortunately, we are back to business as usual with long 6 month sessions and a lot of inefficiency.”

As previously reported, Senator Warren Petersen was more vague but also said that Republicans can’t come to a consensus and indicated that Prop 123 may not happen this session. But according to Hoffman, most Republicans are in agreement, absent a select few.

If Prop 123 isn’t renewed before its June 30, 2025 expiration, Arizona schools stand to lose $300 million in annual funding. The state would then have to make up the difference using the General Fund.

Speaker Montenegro has not responded to multiple requests for comment from State 48 News.

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ICYMI: State 48 News previously reported on the Prop 123 impasse, with school psychologists now joining the push for a larger share of funding to hire more counselors. Catch up on that report here.