PHOENIX — Serious talks are underway for a special session of the Arizona Legislature to pass reforms to the state’s school voucher program, according to House Republicans.
Republicans in both chambers met in closed-door caucuses Thursday to discuss reviving a deal with the state’s largest education union for changes to the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. The bill, introduced on the final day of the legislative session, failed in the Senate when every Democrat and two Republicans voted against it.
Under the deal, the Arizona Education Association had agreed to drop its effort to put an ESA reform initiative on the November ballot in exchange for the legislation and the tabling of a ballot measure to restrict education-union organizing, according to House Republicans. The agreement could be resurrected, along with the repeal of three education-related ballot measures.
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The AEA and a coalition of education groups, including Save Our Schools Arizona, are gathering signatures to put a referendum with reforms such as income caps, the recouping of unspent funds and student testing on the November ballot. The petitions are due July 2.
Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday told reporters she was willing to call a special session if a deal with enough votes can be reached.
“If we can get to a solution that addresses the concerns, then that is a tool that’s on the table,” she said.
Arizona families can use ESAs to pay for educational expenses such as school tuition, homeschooling and tutoring. A 2023 ABC15 investigation found the state money was used to buy trampoline parks, driving lessons in luxury cars and more. Since then, more expenses have been disallowed.
Hobbs has long criticized the skyrocketing growth of ESAs and proposed reforms to rein in what she calls fraud, waste and abuse in the program. Republicans, who have majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, have opposed changes such as income caps.
The deal that failed June 12 included a few of the ESA changes in the proposed citizen initiative, including a list of forbidden purchases and a fingerprinting requirement.
One Democratic lawmaker told ABC15 on Thursday any new deal would need more reforms than the version that failed in the Senate two weeks ago, such as a testing requirement or income caps, to get Democratic votes.
Save Our Schools Arizona opposed the deal, and members of the group packed the Senate and House galleries in red T-shirts to push lawmakers to reject the bill. In a statement, the group called on Hobbs and lawmakers to refuse “any deal that would invalidate the will of hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters who signed” the petition.
“Republicans are terrified of the Protect Education Act,” the group wrote. “They know Arizona voters are ready to pass this long-overdue voucher reform in November, so politicians are doing everything they can – including cutting backroom deals – to prevent Protect Education from reaching the ballot.”
The AEA declined to comment.
Time running out for special session
But the clock is ticking. Lawmakers have less than a week to cut a deal.
The deadline to turn in the Protect Education initiative’s signatures is Thursday, July 2. That means a special session would need to be held no later than Wednesday, July 1.
Either the governor or two-thirds of the Legislature can call a special session. Hobbs said it could happen quickly.
“I mean, it could happen in an hour,” she said. “But I’m not going to call a session until I know ... that it would be productive and produce a result.”
Any deal would need significant Democratic support.
Members of the Arizona Freedom Caucus are likely to oppose an ESA reform bill, and a two-thirds majority would be needed to override the usual rules in order to pass it in one day.
State Sen. Jake Hoffman, one of the two Republicans who voted against the original ESA deal, said passing a reform bill would hand the governor “her crowning achievement” and free up campaign cash for her reelection campaign.
“Arizona conservatives, get loud now if you want any chance to stop it,” he tweeted.
Repeals of ballot measures on the table
A new deal could include repeals of three education-related ballot measures passed in the final hours of the legislative session:
- House Concurrent Resolution 2040, the measure to restrict education unions.
- Senate Concurrent Resolution 1032, which would require 60% of education funding to go to classroom instruction.
- House Concurrent Resolution 2048, which would prohibit the state from taking away scholarship money – including ESA funds – from children in military families and invalidate the Protect Education initiative.
When the ESA deal failed to advance, Republican lawmakers introduced the last-minute HCR 2048 and called an Appropriations panel hearing to advance the legislation. The proposed constitutional amendment would void the entire Protect Education Act initiative even if voters approve the reform measure – and it would block future reform efforts.
HCR 2048 is one of 10 measures lawmakers referred to the November ballot. A repeal of it could be included in a new ESA deal, House Republicans told ABC15.
Law-enforcement and first-responder unions are also pushing for a repeal of HCR 2040, which bans school districts from allowing public resources to support union organizing.
The Arizona Police Association has asked Hobbs to call a special session to repeal the measure because it could also apply to police officers and firefighters.
“Because the consequences are so dire for our members, we are unwilling to take the chance that courts would agree with this interpretation,” Executive Director Joe Clure wrote in a letter to Hobbs obtained by ABC15. “Moreover, the Arizona Constitution has no room for vague and poorly drafted legislation such as HCR 2040.”
The association also sent the letter to every state lawmaker.
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