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While President-elect Donald Trump swept the battleground state, Hobbs noted in a recent interview with The Associated Press that Arizona voters also elected , sending the message that they want their political leaders to work across the aisle to solve the thorniest of issues.

“The issues we’re facing — affordability for families, water security, protecting our border and keeping communities safe — those are not Republican or Democratic issues,� she said. “They’re just Arizona issues that our elected leaders, myself included, need to work together to solve.�

On Monday, Hobbs says she’s willing to work with Republicans but will any legislation she believes fails to provide adequate solutions to the issues Arizonans are facing. In her first two years in office, she vetoed 216 Republican-backed bills, which included legislation .

Hobbs, who will be up for reelection next year, outlined her priorities when she addressed lawmakers at the start of the session Monday.

Here's a look at key policy areas:

Border security

It was just two weeks after the November election when Hobbs visited the Arizona-Mexico border and with Trump’s administration on issues like stopping fentanyl trafficking. But she also acknowledged some families are worried about the .

While not wanting to speculate, Hobbs says Arizona will focus its limited law enforcement resources on keeping violent criminals off the streets, regardless of their immigration status.

In her speech Monday, Hobbs renewed calls to secure the border and vowed to protect Arizonans from threats like illicit drugs entering the state. She touted the success of the Arizona ºÃÉ«tv Guard and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in seizing more than 8 million fentanyl pills and 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of meth, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl powder since July.

"We must remain vigilant in protecting Arizonans from the cartels who seek to do us harm," she said.

GOP Senate President Warren Petersen called Hobbs' comments on border security “good� and said he loved her support of the , a bill making its way through Capitol Hill that would requires federal authorities to detain immigrants who aren’t lawfully in the country and have been accused of certain crimes. He said he is most interested in observing how she interacts with the Trump administration.

“Maybe she's had a change of heart, we'll see," he said after the address. "But as far as the last two years, her actions really didn't match on that issue.�

Reyna Montoya, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group Aliento, said she shared Hobbs’ concern of keepings drugs and criminals off the streets, but was surprised the governor didn’t say anything about protecting immigrant communities, especially as Trump’s inauguration is days away.

“I know that a lot of Arizona families that include Dreamers and would’ve loved to hear that the governor understands that they are part of our fabric,� she said.

Arizona voters last year approved to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border, so it’s unclear what new restrictions on immigration Republicans might push beyond ensuring adequate funding for law enforcement.

Water scarcity

Hobbs will look to pressure lawmakers again to plug regulatory holes to protect groundwater sources. Her calls last year to update the state's water laws failed to win legislative approval, leaving her administration to take executive action in December to .

This time around, Hobbs is optimistic she can reach a deal with lawmakers on revamping groundwater regulations. In the absence of a pact, Hobbs says she won’t hesitate to act unilaterally.

“Mark my words, if this Legislature fails to act, I will again,� Hobbs said in her address, which received applause from members of the Democratic caucus and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis.

The stakes are high as Arizona grapples with long-term drought and needs to come up with to manage its dwindling share of water from the over-tapped Colorado River.

Education

Reining in Arizona's remains on Hobbs' wish list.

The program, which started in 2011 for disabled children and expanded to all students in 2022, lets parents subsidize private-school tuition and other educational costs with public money.

Hobbs and fellow Democrats have criticized the program, saying it contributes to a drain on the state's coffers. In her address, Hobbs pitted the “billion-dollar boondoggle� against increasing funding for additional measures of border security, and called for more accountability and transparency in the “unchecked� program.

“Do we give our police a raise and secure our border — or do we continue to pay for ski resort passes?" Hobbs said.

Republican lawmakers have championed the program as a cornerstone of the school choice movement, and its reform is considered a nonstarter among the GOP-majority Legislature.

“I think it's fair to say that I expect her proposal to be one that would fatally flaw the Empowerment Scholarship Program,� Republican Rep. Matt Gress, House education committee chair, said after Hobbs' remarks.

The budget approved by lawmakers last year after weeks of negotiations with Hobbs' office included only a small cut in spending for the program.

Unlike last year, the state isn’t facing a budget crunch. The latest revenue projection for the next fiscal year is up $231 million compared to the forecast last summer, according to legislative analysts.

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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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