Welcome Back, Faithful Readers
The second Monday in January of an odd-numbered year is upon us, which means the brand-new, 56th edition of the Arizona Legislature convened today for the beginning of its first regular session. We do love that new Legislature smell. As such, you can expect to begin receiving the 2023 edition of the ASBA Legislative update in your inbox. We appreciate your continued readership.
Meet the New Governor, Different from the Old Governor
Gov. Katie Hobbs delivered her first State of the State address this afternoon to open the1st Regular Session of the 56th Arizona Legislature, striking a decidedly different tone than her predecessor that was well received by her fellow Democrats, and less than favorably tolerated by their Republican counterparts.
Hobbs predictably took a couple of shots at last year’s Legislature on big issues of disagreement such as universal ESA voucher expansion and Gov. Ducey’s refusal to call a special session on the Constitutional Aggregate Expenditure Limit. She also sought to define the K-12 funding problem in Arizona as she sees it:
“the state has long failed to live up to its obligation to adequately invest fairly in public education in every community, and we see the results of that with high teacher vacancy rates and some districts with crumbling infrastructure.”
To address this problem, Hobbs offered a number of solutions, which she said will be more fully detailed in her first executive budget, which will be released on Friday afternoon. Many of these items align with ASBA’s member-adopted policy positions:
Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL)—Hobbs urged the Legislature to take up an override of the AEL for FY2023 immediately, calling out Rep. David Cook’s HCR2001 as a potential vehicle to get it done. In response, Legislative Republicans said they would address the limit, but “will not rush the process.” It’s unclear what would be rushed about passing a resolution to override the AEL, as it has been a known issue since before the FY2023 budget was passed.
Capital Facilities—The trial in the capital funding lawsuit brought by a coalition of education organizations, school districts, and individuals, including ASBA, was set to begin Monday. However, upon taking office, Attorney General Kris Mayes moved to postpone the trial, which was granted. Today, Hobbs pledged an effort to resolve the lawsuit without a trial, promising to propose a “historic investment in schools to address capital needs” in her budget recommendation.
Educator Workforce—Gov. Hobbs stated “Teachers are creating the workforce and leaders of tomorrow, and it’s time we started treating them with the respect they deserve,” while announcing the creation of an Educator Retention Task Force that would make recommendations on things such as class size, working conditions, and other factors to help improve retention in the profession.
Results-Based Funding—Hobbs addressed results-based funding specifically, calling it inequitable and proposing that the $68.6M currently used for the program instead be reallocated to the base level for all schools.
Financial Transparency—Hobbs called for a more uniform level of financial oversight of all schools that accept taxpayer dollars—district, charter, and schools accepting ESA funds.
Counselors and Social Workers—The governor called for greater investment to hire more school counselors and social workers to reduce the student:counselor ratio in Arizona, currently among the highest in the nation. This contrasts with Supt. Tom Horne’s approach, which favors School Resource Officers as the first priority.
This Week’s Meetings
House Education (Tuesday afternoon)— not meeting
Senate Education (Wednesday afternoon)— 2:30 (Supt. Horne State of Education)