Drama over deadlines: Hobbs, Horne trade barbs over a delayed school voucher report

State Superintendent Tom Horne's school voucher homework is overdue.

And Gov. Katie Hobbs isn't happy, as she made clear in a terse letter to Horne that her office shared with the media on Wednesday.

The two state officials are squabbling over a report that, by law, was due Nov. 30 from the state Department of Education.

It requires Horne's department to add new data to the existing reporting requirements about the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account program. Among the new pieces of information: a student's ZIP code and whether the student is an English Language Learner.

The requirements were added in the budget that lawmakers approved in May, but Horne's office said it had learned of the extra data "late," and the governor was well aware of the situation.

“The Department of Education has been in contact with the Governor’s office for nearly three weeks regarding this issue," Horne said in a statement responding to the governor's complaint letter. "They are fully aware that we are preparing the report she has requested. Nothing is being withheld."

However, the report won't be ready until after the holidays, Education Department spokesman Doug Nick said, explaining it takes time to extract ZIP code data from the agency's ESA files.

The department is also late with the standard quarterly report on the program, which also was due Nov. 30. The agency sent The Republic a copy of that report early Friday, although it has yet to be posted on the department's website.

The back and forth continued, with Hobbs' spokesman saying the delay in providing the more-robust report shows "the Department of Education is not interested in allowing the people of Arizona to learn about the program's wasteful, runaway spending."

"It's a critical avenue for accountability and transparency," Hobbs' spokesman Christian Slater said.

In the letter to Horne, Hobbs' budget director doubled down on the spending angle, noting recent media reports about the voucher dollars being used to pay for ski passes and "luxury car driving lessons."

Sarah Brown also cited figures that show the program, less than halfway through the budget year, has exceeded its allotted funding by $59 million.

She also suggested Horne might want to consider "reprioritizing your budget," noting he has spent millions in taxpayer dollars to promote the program. Horne got $10 million in the current budget deal to advertise the program, which is open to every school-age child in Arizona.

Horne parried, saying the wasteful spending happened during the previous Education Department administration, adding the agency saved $21 million by suspending 2,200 voucher accounts and rejected "thousands" of incomplete ESA applications.

He also noted the state K-12 budget can absorb the higher-than-expected ESA costs.

He closed with a seasonal wish: "Finally, and most importantly, Merry Christmas!”

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Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @maryjpitzl.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hobbs, Horne trade barbs over a delayed Arizona school voucher report