Happy General Effective Date!
Saturday, September 24, 2022 was the general effective date for all bills passed during the 2022 session of Arizona Legislature. That means your students should have enjoyed their first full minute of silence this morning. You can refresh your memory on the bills passed this session here.
Town Hall Event on the AEL on Wednesday
Senators Sean Bowie (D) and Paul Boyer (R) are participating in a tele-town hall along with superintendents, business officials, and other education leaders on Wednesday, September 28 at 6 p.m. Call in to hear more about the impact of the Constitutional Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL), and why it must be addressed. ASBA supports the waiver of the limit for FY2023. Details are as follows:
Tele-town hall on the Aggregate Expenditure Limit
Wednesday, September 28, 6:00p.m.
To participate, click the button below or follow this link, and you will receive a call on Wednesday at 6.
ESA Drama Continues for Now
Save Our Schools Arizona (SOS AZ) turned in a purported 142,000 petition signatures to place the ESA expansion approved by the Legislature this session on the 2024 ballot Friday afternoon. This represented about 20% more than the required 118,823 signatures. However, as the weekend wore on and the Secretary of State began counting, it appeared that the numbers stated in the petition submission were not materializing. Today, the Arizona Mirror reports on the developments and what happened to cause the discrepancy. The Secretary of State must continue counting signatures and verify how many there actually are, but it now appears the effort may fall short. As of now, the Secretary of State has not given an estimate how long its review will take. The ESA expansion will not take effect until a determination is made.
Minimum Wage to Increase by Over a $1 on Jan. 1st
The Arizona Industrial Commission has set the new Arizona mimimum wage at $13.85 per hour beginning January 1, 2023. This represents an increase of $1.05 in hourly wages, or $2,184 annually for a full-time worker over the current wage of $12.80. The wage was calculated by applying the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from August 2021 to August 2022. That increase was 8.3%. An 8.3% increase translates to $1.06, however the statute requires the commission to round the wage to the nearest nickel, resulting in a $1.05 increase for 2023.