This Week At The Legislature
It is that time again, where we are well beyond the 100-day mark of the legislative session, and instead of wrapping up, the legislature is heading into a one-to-three-week recess. Passing a budget is our most important responsibility, but continued disagreements among the Majority, in and between each chamber, have stalled the process. We're approaching the final stretch of policy votes, here’s an update for those following closely:
351 bills have been sent to Governor Hobbs
152 bills have been signed by the Governor
2.5% of the bills are democratic bills (total of 9)
Wondering about the disparity? During the vote on a bill banning DEI programs, my colleague Rep. César Aguilar adeptly pointed out: this legislature is not merit-based. Good policy at the Capitol is judged not on its merits, but on whether there's an "R" or "D" next to the sponsor’s name. That’s exactly why DEI measures matter—they exist to break down bias and promote fairness in every aspect of our lives.
(Watch the spirited floor voting here, complete with MLK quotes.)
Like many of my colleagues, I had bills that earned unanimous committee support, only to be buried in the pile of forgotten ideas. Merit alone isn’t enough to move forward even the most popular policy ideas, so how can we pretend we live in a society rooted in equal opportunity?
A Clean Prop 123 or No Deal
Dear reader, I want you to know about an urgent budget catastrophe looming, one that threatens not just our state’s financial health, but the entire existence of public schools in our state. Arizona’s public-school funding is being held hostage - again. Republicans are proposing a false choice for Prop 123: secure long-term funding for public education only if we permanently write the private school ESA voucher program into the state constitution. This is a dangerous bait-and-switch, a billion-dollar poison pill.
For background: Proposition 123, passed by voters in 2016, increased State Land Trust distributions to public schools and now provides $285 million annually in K–12 funding. With its expiration just months away, the state will need to backfill that amount from the General Fund unless it’s responsibly renewed.
Let’s be clear: Arizona already has school choice. What most Arizonans choose is public schools. But now, lawmakers are trying to link teacher raises and classroom funding to a scandal-plagued voucher system that uses taxpayer dollars for luxury purchases like espresso machines, car lessons, even bounce houses, with zero accountability. These two ideas have no business being in the same bill and are questionably unconstitutional.
But the fiscal impact is staggering. What was sold as a $30 million ESA expansion program has exploded to over $900 million in just two years, predictably blowing a massive hole in the state budget. Enshrining this program in the constitution would lock in this reckless spending permanently, forcing every Arizona taxpayer to foot the bill for private education while starving our public schools of resources.
Worth mentioning that as of 2024, 82% of students using the vouchers were already enrolled in private schools before applying for the program. Private citizens are literally picking up the tab for private school tuitions, instead of public dollars to be used for the public good.
In LD 5, this number is higher with 86.6% of voucher-using families were already attending private schools, diverting $79,416,000 of public-school funding to private schools. At risk is a further $7,341,225 loss for LD 5 public schools.
We saw during the fight for developmental disability funding that when partisan games are set aside, good policy can pass. A clean Prop 123 proposal would have the votes. It’s time to do the right thing, for our educators, for our kids, and for Arizona’s economic future.
Contact Republican lawmakers today and demand a clean Prop 123 renewal: no voucher protections, no backroom deals.
Representative Matt Gress - [email protected]
Senator J.D. Mesnard - [email protected]
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