By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- A leading legislative Democrat said her caucus is now weighing whether to accept what one called "light'' reforms of vouchers.
Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan said that what's being proposed by Republicans "is not really much of anything.'' The Tucson Democrat said it falls short if what's in an initiative backed by education interests to reform what is known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
But Sundareshan told Capitol Media Services that as weak as what the GOP is offering in exchange for the initiative pushed by the Arizona Education Association being scrapped, the real fear is that without a deal Arizonans will be presented with three other ballot measures in November crafted by legislative Republicans -- measures she said are not only "intended to confuse voters'' but could hurt public education.
By contrast, a deal would nullify all of them and keep them off the ballot. That includes a GOP-backed plan that, if approved by voters, would make it harder for the Arizona Education Association, one of the driving forces behind the comprehensive ESA reform initiative, to use public resources. That means not only denying the ability to do union work at schools or on school time but even to have their dues collected through a payroll deduction.
There's also a separate measure to insist that 60 cents out of every education dollar be used for instructional support, about eight cents more now than the statewide average. More to the point, schools who can't get there because of other expenses like utilities and even diesel for school buses would lose state aid.
And then there's a proposal, promoted as an effort to protect the children of military families from having to give up voucher money they are saving up for college -- but with a "poison pill'' that would invalidate the entire Protect Education Act initiative and its far-reaching provisions ranging from limits on how ESA funds can be spent to denying vouchers to families earning more than $150,000 a year.
A similar deal offered in the final hours of the regular legislative session was rejected by Democrats. Sundareshan noted, however, there is something that now gives Democrats a bit more leverage: The legislature is not in session. That means it would take a two-thirds vote of the legislature to call a special session, something the Republicans lack the votes to do on their own. The more realistic option is asking Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs to call lawmakers back to the Capitol, meaning she would have to approve of any deal.
"I believe that changes things in terms of who's driving the bus,'' Sundareshan said.
Hobbs, for her part, said she's willing to make that move.
"I certainly have always said regarding a special session on any issue: If we can get to a solution that addresses concerns, then that is a tool that's on the table,'' the governor said.
But even as Democrats and Hobbs are willing to deal, organizers of Save Our Schools Arizona -- one of the groups that has been promoting the comprehensive ESA-reform initiative along with the AEA -- is telling them to back down and let the voters have the final say.
"A special session would rob the people of Arizona of their ability to vote to rein in the $1 billion voucher program and recoup hundreds of millions of dollars for Arizona public school students,'' the group posted on social media. "Voters have a right to weigh in on how their taxpayer dollars are spent through Arizona's citizens' initiative process, free from the bad-faith interference of politicians and special interests.''
And, from the perspective of SOS, it's not like it's even a good deal.
What Republicans offered earlier this month were some limits on how the vouchers of taxpayer dollars -- about $7,500 a year for most students -- can be used by parents.
A large percent of the more than 100,000 students use their vouchers for tuition at private and parochial schools. But the vouchers also can be used by parents who do home schooling to buy supplies and services who can get reimbursed by the Department of Education.
That has led to reports about money going for jet skis, driving lessons in luxury cars, jewelry, expensive pianos and trips to amusement parks.
Republicans offered to put into law -- without a need to go to the ballot -- a list of prohibited expenses. They also said they would provide more money for the Department of Education to review reimbursement requests.
But Sundareshan said that's not much.
"We need fingerprinting, we need testing to make sure that they're actually learning,'' she said. "So much of these things are really needed to make ESAs actually accountable to the people.''
Also not part of the package is that $150,000 income cap for families wanting vouchers.
Save Our Schools was more direct, pointing out that the maneuver comes just about a week before the initiative petition is due to turn in its signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The organization said it "refuses to settle for crumbs or weak compromise when it comes to Arizona children.''
"Voters have a right to weigh in on how their taxpayer dollars are spent through Arizona's citizens' initiative process, free from the bad-faith interference of politicians and special interests,'' the post said.
And there also was a message for lawmakers -- of either party -- who go along.
"Arizonans will remember who stood with voters and public schools in this critical moment,'' it said.
Sundareshan, however, said it's not that simple. She acknowledged that there is a lawsuit seeking to knock the poison pill referendum off the ballot, arguing that it violates constitutional prohibitions against putting multiple issues into a single take-it-or-leave it proposal. In this case, the challengers argue that voters are being asked to protect scholarship funds for children from military families but not being informed that approval of the measure would override the Protect Education Now initiative.
At one time, Sundareshan said, such a maneuver would have been struck down by the Arizona Supreme Court. But now, she's not so sure.
"We know the Supreme Court is still packed by Gov. Doug Ducey,'' she said, pointing out that the former governor pushed through legislation in 2016 to add two more justices to the five-member bench. That gave him two immediate appointments on top of four others he had named; the seventh justice, Ann Scott Timmer, was appointed by Republican Jan Brewer.
Sundareshan noted that the justices knocked a 2022 voucher reform measure off the ballot. She said the high court "has shown a very, I would have to say, biased approach towards the people's interest in having accountability in the voucher space.''
Plus failing to reach a deal, she said, also means the other GOP referrals -- limiting the ability of the AEA to use public resources and that requirement for 60 cents out of every dollar to be spent in the classroom -- also would be on the ballot.
Republican leadership pushed through a final vote to send the issue to voters only after their earlier offer for a deal was rejected, a move Sundareshan called "vindictive.'' But she said there is an interest in not having them sent to voters.
Even if GOP leadership reaches a deal, it still has to sell the package to rank-and-file members. And Sen. Jake Hoffman is already taking steps to try to kill an such plan.
Part of it, the Queen Creek Republican who heads the Arizona Freedom Caucus -- a group of the most conservative GOP lawmakers -- said in his own social media post, is his believe that ESAs are a good thing, with very low rates of fraud or misspending.
But there's also a political component to his bid to quash any deal, including one being offered by his own party: Keeping the GOP referrals on the ballot will force voucher reform backers to spend a lot of money to kill them.
"Make no mistake, if Establishment House Republicans do this, they will be freeing up $10-$15 million in Democrat campaign spending to support Hobbs, (Secretary of State Adrian) Fontes and (Attorney General Kris) Mayes,'' he wrote.
"Establishment House Republicans will energize the Democrat base, while infuriating our own base and depressing turnout in November,'' Hoffman said. "This is a crappy deal just like the ones that have pissed you off for decades in Washington, D.C.'' And Hoffman told followers to "get loud now if you want any chance to stop it.''
A spokesman for House Speaker Steve Montenegro who had crafted the original plan -- the one that was rejected earlier this month -- said that negotiations were expected to continue into Friday.
-30-
On X, Bluesky, and Threads: @azcapmedia
