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Friday, Jul. 11, 2025

Has Arizona’s budget nearly doubled since 2019?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
no

Arizona’s budget has grown significantly, from approximately $10.1 billion in fiscal year 2019 to about $17.6 billion in fiscal year 2026. When adjusted for inflation, the 2019 budget amounts to roughly $12.7 billion in 2025 dollars — putting the actual increase closer to 40%.

The 2026 budget reflects higher spending in key sectors, including health and welfare programs, public safety salaries, and K-12 education. Arizona’s overall expenditures have increased under both Republican and Democratic governors, reflecting trends seen in other fast-growing states. 

Contributing factors include rising costs for state services like education, growing obligations under federal programs like Medicaid, and inflation, according to Common Sense Institute, an Arizona-based think tank that analyzes economic issues.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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