School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water

A plan by Republican lawmakers to call a special session of the Arizona Legislature to strike a deal with the state’s largest teachers union to kill a ballot initiative aimed at the school voucher program is likely dead in the water. 

In the final hours of the annual legislative session just three weeks ago, Republican lawmakers pushed through a ballot referral that, if approved by voters, would nullify the two citizen-led initiatives aimed at regulating the state’s billion-dollar school voucher program, formally known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. 

The move came after the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, tried and failed to make a deal to keep both initiatives off the ballot. That proposal would have implemented more modest reforms on the universal K-12 voucher system, in exchange for GOP legislators abandoning a ballot referral asking voters to effectively kill the AEA.

The push for the Republican constitutional amendment barring school voucher reforms that passed along party lines in the last hours of the legislative session was a backup plan for GOP lawmakers pushed through after the compromise with the teachers union failed.The ESA program provides payments for any K-12 Arizona student to attend private or parochial schools, and pays for tutoring or homeschooling supplies.

In exchange for getting the AEA to abandon the initiative campaign, Republicans had reportedly pledged to drop their retaliatory ballot referral that would effectively defund the teachers union by prohibiting school districts from deducting membership fees from employee paychecks — even though that is done at the employee’s request. 

However, when that negotiated bill materialized on the Senate floor, it failed to pass, with two Republicans, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, and Senate President Warren Petersen, joining Democrats in killing it. 

Republicans then swiftly moved on to Plan B, House Concurrent Resolution 2048, dubbed the “Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act.” 

But the legislation does far more than Republicans advertised: Buried in the bill is a clause that says it is not just limited to “scholarship account programs that are established and maintained by this state for only children of military families.” Democrats said that means it would effectively bar any reforms to the ESA program.

Last week rumors began to circulate of a deal being proposed by Republican leadership that would see them withdrawing HCR2048, among other pieces of legislation aimed at teachers in exchange for some concessions on ESA reform. 

In return AEA would drop its ballot initiative.

Multiple sources at the Capitol confirmed to the Arizona Mirror that lawmakers were meeting to discuss some sort of deal and that the AEA was monitoring the situation last week. 

Now it appears that a deal is unlikely as signatures for the petitions are due Thursday, meaning a special session would need to be held before then. Gov. Katie Hobbs said she wouldn’t call for one. 

“Legislative Republicans are throwing firefighters, police and teachers under the bus in order to protect waste, fraud and abuse in the ESA entitlement program,” Hobbs’ office said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror “They’ve chosen to pull back from a deal they already agreed to at the end of session in order to appease partisan politicians in Washington, DC.”

 The ballot referral issued by Republicans at the last hour has come under attack by firefighter and police unions who have said that an amendment made by Hoffman to the bill impacts them as well. Critics warned that the ballot referral  could ban police and firefighter union bargaining if voters favor it. 

Meanwhile, Republicans Monday continued to push for Hobbs to call a legislative session and for a deal that would include what they call a “one-for-one ballot measure exchange.” 

“It’s shameful that they would put their own partisan political agenda ahead of protecting public safety and public education,” Hobbs’ office said in the statement. “Governor Hobbs will continue standing with our firefighters, police and teachers who show up for Arizonans every day, and she will not accept a sham deal.”

Some long-time ESA advocates are continuing to push for what is now being called the “Biggs plan,” named after Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, despite signals from the ninth floor that the governor will not agree to that deal. 

“Keep refreshing Gov. Hobbs’ X page to see if she announces a special session before midnight,” Jason Bedrick, a Heritage Foundation employee said to another user on X who asked where they could get updates on the possible deal. 

Meanwhile Democratic members of the Arizona Legislature slammed Republicans for the attempt. 

“Republicans created this mess by rushing harmful and misleading ballot referrals through the Legislature, including an attack on teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and other public employees who wish to join a union and negotiate the terms of their employment,” Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan and House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos said in a joint statement. “Today, they had the opportunity to come together and work with Democrats to pull back these rushed and ill-considered reforms and once again, they failed Arizona.”