Week Fifteen: Fifty-Fifth Legislature — Second Regular Session
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Story of the Week: The Skinny Budget
Members of the GOP attempted to rush through their version of a “skinny budget” that would do nothing to address the needs of Arizonans, especially accounting for the fact that we have a $5.3 billion surplus. The 12 budget reconciliation bills that were voted on would have only carried forward last year’s spending levels into the new fiscal year. It would continue to underfund our education system and potentially leave us above the AEL cap – harming students across the state.
With a multi-billion dollar surplus, now is our chance to invest in education, water infrastructure, housing, and transportation. This is a critical opportunity and we need to make a dent in the longtime disinvestment in our communities.
While Democrats led the fight to kill the “skinny budget” in the House Appropriations Committee this week – we must stay vigilant into the budget season for more attempts like this to disregard the needs of Arizonans.
The skinny budget bills that were killed were: HB2841, HB2842, HB2843, HB2844, HB2845, HB2846, HB2847, HB2848, HB2849, HB2850, HB2851, HB2852.
The Good
HB2208 – Rep. Kelli Butler sponsored a bill that creates license plates to raise awareness about ovarian cancer and to help women access vital treatment; passed the Senate and is transmitted to the Governor.
The Bad: Arizona Republicans Killed Our Investment in Education
This week the Doug Ducey-packed state supreme court ruled in favor of the Free Enterprise Club to kill Prop 307 (a ballot initiative that would have reversed the 2.5-percent flat tax passed by the Republican legislature last year).
In 2021, Arizona Republicans also capped income taxes at 4.5-percent; and allowed the wealthy to remove profits from their businesses, trusts, and estates from the calculation of individual taxable income so that they can avoid paying the surcharge established by Prop 208.
This relentless attack on our public schools has left Arizona public schools ranked 49th in per-pupil spending for elementary and secondary education, and twenty percent of our public school classrooms do not have a qualified teacher.
The Invest in Education Act was a historic $900 million investment in public schools. We only need one-fifth of our budget surpluss to undo the damage done by the Legislature, Governor, and Courts.
While Republicans continue to destroy our public education system, we work to rebuild and strengthen it.