Arizona House Dems refused to show up to the floor, blocking the state GOP from advancing a budget that included a tax cut to benefit the wealthy

• Arizona House Dems refused to show up to a budget debate Tuesday, blocking the GOP from advancing a budget plan.
• The proposed budget included a $1.7 billion tax cut that would mainly benefit the wealthy.
• Last month, Texas legislators staged a walkout to block a GOP-backed bill restricting voting rights.

House Democrats in Arizona refused to appear for a scheduled debate on Tuesday, preventing state Republicans from advancing a budget that includes a $1.7 billion tax cut that would mainly benefit the wealthy.

With state Democrats refusing to show for legislative business on Tuesday, the state GOP failed to meet the Arizona House requirement of 31 members in attendance for a quorum.

There are 29 Democratic lawmakers in the Arizona House and 31 members of the GOP caucus, but several were not in town Tuesday.

"You can't simultaneously ignore the wishes of half the state and then take us for granted to pass a partisan budget," House Democratic Leader Reginald Bolding said in a statement.

"The public and our members need more time to analyze the measures Republicans negotiated in secret and stuffed into their budget plan, and what the long-term implications will be for our state before we debate this," Bolding continued.

In a statement released by Arizona House Democrats Tuesday, the caucus said the Republican budget plan fails to reflect Democratic input and said it includes "extensive last-minute changes only unveiled this morning that will hamstring future legislatures from addressing the needs of our growing state."

State Rep. Daniel Hernandez told HuffPost that he had never seen a more dramatic protest to GOP legislative actions in his five years in office.

"This is what happens, where the deal gets negotiated in the middle of the night and they drop it, trying to force a vote on it," Hernandez told HuffPost.

The move to stay away from the floor drew ire from state Republicans, prompting some to pin the blame of a potential government shutdown on House Democrats.

"Arizona was ready to avoid a govt shutdown and pass the budget today," GOP state Rep. Joseph Chaplik tweeted Tuesday. "Not one democrat showed up for floor, preventing a vote from taking place. If we don't pass a budget, our state gov't shuts down and the democrats will be to blame."

House Majority Leader Ben Toma also condemned the move, calling the Democrats' move "very disturbing," "grandstanding," and "political posturing," HuffPost reported.

"The reality is these conversations have been happening for months, and everybody basically knows what's in the budget," Toma told HuffPost. "The bottom line is, their very first condition was no tax cuts, in which case there really was nothing to discuss in terms of the budget, because that is the most important part of the budget, in addition to all the other things we're doing."

The move comes after Democratic state legislators in Texas staged a dramatic walkout last month to block the passage of a GOP-backed bill that restricted voting rights in the state. It was the fourth walkout of its kind in the state's history.

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new state budget that defunded the legislature following the Democrats' walkout.

"Texans don't run from a legislative fight, and they don't walk away from unfinished business," Abbott said in a statement.