SOSAZ Legislative Report Fifty-Fourth Legislature - First General Session February 24, 2019

Now We Watch for ESA Zombie Bills While Continuing to Fight Bad Public Education Policy on the Floor This week is “crossover week”: the deadline to hear bills in committees in their chamber of origin has passed, so lawmakers’ main focus this week is to hear bills on the floor and move them across the courtyard, or “cross them over,” to the opposite chamber. We’ll see lengthy floor debate, with the Senate scheduled to meet daily at 1:30 PM and the House at 10:30 AM. Next week, the Senate will start hearing House bills, and the House will start hearing Senate bills.

Most committees (including House Education and Senate Education) are not meeting this week as lawmakers focus on this work. The only committees meeting are Appropriations and Rules, which means we’ll have limited opportunities to use RTS. We’ll be watching for shenanigans in Appropriations as it’s the only remaining way to keep new ideas alive this week. About 500 bills have survived the committee deadline — but, remember, because of the amendment process, no idea is truly dead until the legislature adjourns.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do this week is contact your Senator to register your opposition to SB1395. In Senate Finance Committee last week, the special interest groups and lawmakers pushing this bill swore up and down that SB1395 is not an expansion, yet the fiscal note by the JLBC clearly states otherwise. Read our OpEd on the bill here, then make those calls and emails! Click HERE to find your Senator’s information.

Expands ESA Vouchers Despite SB 1395 Oppose AZ Voters Rejecting Expansion

Empowerment Scholarship restrictions on allowable goods and services, Accounts; Program Revisions and more, opening the floodgates for even Expands ESA Eligibility, Reduces more fraud and abuse • Proposes “fixes” that are already in place Expenditure Accountability meaning no actual improvements, just Sen. political games • Eliminates what few standards are • Expands vouchers to even more people who currently in place: re-evaluation of aren’t already eligible. For the cheap seats: ESA voucher recipients, reasonable AZ voted NO NEW VOUCHERS!

This is a great week to watch your lawmakers debate bills on the floor! The action starts on Monday at 10:30 AM in the House and 1:30 PM in the Senate. Here’s a handy map of how to get there and where to park. If you can’t make it downtown, watch live proceedings online here. 1. Continue to email and call YOUR senator to oppose SB1395 2. Oppose SB1161 striker reviving “charter-district co-location.” Calls to Action! Contact members of Senate Appropriations Committee: , Chair (R-14) Support SB1485 602-926-5154 / [email protected] , Vice Chair (R-11) 602-926-3106 / [email protected] Oppose SB1161 (R-15) 602-926-5503 / [email protected] Oppose SB1460 (R-13) 602-926-5955 / [email protected] David Livingston (R-22) Oppose SB1451 602-926-4178 / [email protected] Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-23) 602-926-4480 / [email protected] Oppose SCR1023 (D-24) 602-926-5829 / [email protected] (D-18) 602-926-3004 / [email protected] Visit SOSAZ , Minority Whip (D-4) 602-926-3002 / [email protected] on Facebook Committee hearing is Tuesday 11 AM, SHR 109 3. Call and email your senator to oppose SB1451

rooms, special education therapy rooms, and computer labs. Co-location is the new push for privatizers around the country. SB 1161 Oppose This exact idea FAILED Senate Education last week because of your activism, but Technical Correction; Payment is back as a proposed striker in Senate Method Appropriations for Tuesday. Make sure Striker Forcing Public Schools to to say in your comments you oppose Lease Space to Private Schools the striker! Sen. SB1161 is now subject to a striker amendment that would require the School SB 1460 Oppose Facilities Board to publish a list of vacant or partially used school spaces every year, and would require school districts to accept TPT; Digital Goods and Services bids from charter schools for that space if Excludes Digital Products from the charter school was the lowest bidder. Taxes at Expense to the State The bill is being pushed by the Chamber Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita of Commerce and the Goldwater Institute, Would create a new sales tax exemption with the goal of opening district and for many digital goods, including “software charter schools in the same building. This as a service” (Office 365, QuickBooks, can lead to siphoning off resources from TurboTax). the district to the charter school, making These are products, not services, and are under-funding even more punitive for the largest and fastest-growing sector of the public schools. digital economy. The JLBC’s fiscal analysis Another problem is that “unused space” from last year estimated the loss at $120 could target science labs, art and music million every year — and with 42% of our General Fund going to K-12 education, this referenda to be organized and grouped by is a HUGE cut. circulator. As digital goods continue to grow in use This is an extra burden on campaigns, and popularity, the cost of Ugenti-Rita’s especially grassroots campaigns. It also exemption is likely to rise. If this sounds makes it easier for opponents to disqualify familiar, it should; a contentious similar entire signature sheets. This would mean bill from last year did not pass. Scheduled campaigns need even more signatures as for Senate Rules, Monday. a cushion, further raising the already high cost of putting measures on the ballot. This is a direct attack on citizen efforts like our No on Prop. 305! Ready for the SB 1485 Support floor.

Technical Correction; Tax Correction SCR 1023 Oppose Striker Capping STO Growth Sen. JD Mesnard Initiative; Referendum; SB1485 now contains a striker that would Signatures; Legislative Districts end the 20% annual automatic growth of corporate private school tax credits (STOs) Undermines Arizona’s Citizen by gradually decreasing the cap to 2% or Initiative Process inflation over the next 5 years. Sen. Sine Kerr Over the next 5 years the bill would keep Would essentially doom the citizen up to $263 million in the general fund initiative process in Arizona, especially for which would otherwise be diverted to grassroots groups like SOS AZ. private schools. It restricts Arizona’s initiative process Slowing the growth of this tax credit is by requiring ballot measures to collect critical, as it is on pace to double every four signatures from a percentage of voters years unless state lawmakers take action. in each of Arizona’s 30 legislative Lawmakers could capture an additional districts: 10% for initiatives and 15% for a $67 million for the general fund by bringing constitutional amendment. the cap down to 2% immediately instead of This would effectively give any single gradually, but it appears lawmakers lack legislative district veto powers over the the resolve for such a decisive step. rest, allowing a small minority (the most Scheduled for Senate Rules, Monday. conservative or liberal area in the state) to veto measures that have broad support. A nearly identical measure was proposed two years ago but did not pass. See SB 1451 Oppose mirror bill HCR2005, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-23). Scheduled for Senate Rules, Monday. Statewide Ballot Measures; Circulators; Procedures Undermines Arizona’s Citizen Help Support Our Work: Initiative Process Sen. Vince Leach Donate to Would institute registration of out-of- Save Our Schools state signature collectors, and require Arizona all petitions for statewide initiatives and