Leaders at the Arizona Legislature said this week they will return to the Capitol on May 1 and officially end the annual session, which was already on pause amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

But the outcome of that plan is uncertain amid pushback from Republicans in the state House of Representatives, signaling plenty of political wrangling remains before lawmakers reach a consensus on how and when to wrap up business.

Adjourning the session sine die would scrap the mountain of bills and proposed ballot questions that lawmakers have worked on since January involving issues that range from elections to the cancer claims of firefighters and teacher misconduct. The Legislature passed a basic budget along with tens of millions of dollars in economic relief at the end of March and elected to take a three-week break as a public health precaution.

Legislative leaders had already pushed back their initial — and highly tentative — goal of returning to the Capitol on April 13 with a mounting number of COVID-19 cases around Arizona and Gov. Doug Ducey's stay at home order that extends through the end of the month.

An agreement among legislative leaders on Tuesday seemed to extinguish any notion of carrying on the session as normal.

House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, and Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, planned to go back into their respective chambers at the beginning of May to officially draw the session to a close.

The whole process could take just a few minutes.

Shortfall will take time to materialize

Lawmakers expect Gov. Doug Ducey will call them back into a special session sometime over the summer to deal with the budgetary consequences of the state's current economic crisis, which has seen record claims for unemployment benefits and is anticipated to take a big bite out of projected tax revenue.

Analysts told lawmakers in early April they project a budget shortfall of $1.1 billion, but added that the figure could be off by $500 million in either direction.

The state's blurry financial picture is unlikely to get clearer until June, the end of the current fiscal year, they said.

"There really isn't a whole lot we really could do over the next 60 days anyway," Fann said.

Congress also is expected to pass more economic relief measures, which could prop up some programs and cushion the budgets of state and local governments, adding another twist to Arizona's financial outlook.

Arizona's Legislature won't be alone in adjourning early. The coronavirus pandemic has upended legislative sessions across the country. Legislatures in more than half the states have adjourned or recessed due to the public health crisis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Work 'flushed down the drain'

Many Republican lawmakers — and lobbyists — quickly rejected the idea, however, arguing that it amounted to flushing a lot of their work down the drain.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said a majority of the House Republican caucus opposed the idea of adjourning May 1 during a teleconference meeting on Wednesday morning.

"It's the hope of the Republican caucus that we'll go back in May and do the bills and go back in June and do the budget," he said.

Later, Bowers did not rule out adjourning on May 1, but said in a statement that he conveyed to Fann the opposition of House members.

"After speaking now with our caucus, a substantive majority of my members have expressed a strong desire to return and finish the work of the legislative session," Bowers said.

Fann told The Arizona Republic that she has relayed the sentiments of the House Republican caucus to senators.

"We're not exactly sure what the House's intentions are," Fann said.

Democratic leaders supported adjourning sooner, arguing it would be best for the health of members and staff. And while Democrats were unlikely to pass their priorities this year with only a minority, adjourning would quash Republican bills they fiercely oppose.

With Democratic leaders supporting plans to adjourn May 1, the Senate and House could still end the session that day with the backing of a few Republicans.

While Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, said none of this will be easy for lawmakers who will have to explain to constituents why their bills or projects will not pass, he described adjournment as a sort of mutually assured destruction for both good and bad bills.

Pointing to uncertainty around the state budget, he said: "It's probably the only thing we can do, especially since we don't have good revenue numbers yet."

Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, said the Legislature should at least address deadlines that the state government faces in the coming months.

Others have argued the state government should adjust for the new reality of social distancing.

The Arizona Association of Counties has pushed to change the law to allow counties to run elections entirely by mail ahead of the primary in August, for example.

For his part, Boyer is proposing to push back the requirements that schools implement particular levels of dyslexia training for teachers, arguing it will be even harder for schools to meet those requirements given the upending of the spring semester.

State and local governments face several such mandates, he added.

"I don't know what the big push is to adjourn right away," Boyer said.

Legislation that had not passed when lawmakers voted to break and would be doomed for the year if they adjourn altogether also include a slew of laws, reforms, tax cuts and ballot measures.

Among them is a proposal to double the gas tax of 18 cents over the next several years to pay for road repairs and improvements and impose a tax on electric and hybrid vehicles.

Legislation to help firefighters with workers compensation claims stemming from cancer, to toughen the rules on misconduct by school employees, to ban transgender students from competing in girls' sports and to give local governments more leeway to regulate short-term vacation rentals all have been on hold, too.

Proposed constitutional amendments for the ballot in November and dealing with issues ranging from redistricting to direct democracy also would sputter, probably a relief for the civil rights groups opposed the measures.

Ending could be logistical challenge

A vote to adjourn will require the support of a majority of members in each chamber.

House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, said that may pose a logistical challenge. Even though the House allowed remote voting through a video conference service during the session, that arrangement is not factored into the rules for voting to adjourn, she said.

Fernandez said she backs the idea of adjourning and argued for wrapping up the session altogether in late March, contending it would have been safer for everyone.

"We're very confident if the governor needs us back, the speaker and president will call a special session," she said.

Contact Andrew Oxford at andrew.oxford@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter at @andrewboxford.