After expanding school vouchers to all Arizona students, backers now seek bigger payments

Five months after Arizona enacted a universal school voucher program, some lawmakers want to increase the amount students would receive as part of a hoped-for special session of the Legislature on public school finance before the end of the year.

The demand is one of many surfacing as a bipartisan group of lawmakers pressures Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to deliver on a promise to call a special session to waive the spending cap on aggregate school spending just weeks before he is set to leave office.

“There are things in addition to the AEL (aggregate expenditure limit) that I’d like to get done," Ducey told reporters Monday. He didn't answer a question if that includes boosting the average empowerment scholarship award of $7,000, but his chief of staff acknowledged it's on the table.

“That’s certainly a priority that’s being discussed,” Daniel Ruiz, the chief of staff, said. He did not provide any details of how much of an increase is being proposed.

House Majority Leader Ben Toma, who sponsored the bill that ushered in the nation's first voucher program that's open to all students, said he could offer little other than to say it's in the mix.

“I just know that it is something that the governor has said is one of his priorities," said Toma, R-Peoria.

Neither Toma nor Ruiz had specifics on the size of a possible increase.

Related:Voucher program will spend more than $300 million this school year

There are other demands linked to a potential special session before year's end. Many are made with an eye on the coming change in political dynamics at the state Capitol, where Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs will succeed Ducey, and as the near evenly split Legislature is expected to lean more toward the extremes in both parties.

For example, there are calls to rein in executive power and to do more to fortify the border with Mexico — measures unlikely to fly with Hobbs. Others are pushing for a new vote on a transportation measure that passed this year but which Ducey vetoed. That matter, along with the effort to raise the spending cap, likely would fare better with the current Legislature than with the new members who will take their seats next month.

They wrote the check, but won't let schools cash it

The school spending limit has been an issue ever since lawmakers in June passed a state budget with bipartisan support. It added an historic $1.2 billion boost to the K-12 budget, including a permanent $1 billion increase to the base budget.

But without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to waive a constitutional spending cap, public school districts can't use much of the extra money. They would have to cut 17% from their budgets this school year, which school officials say would lead to layoffs and possibly an early end to classes.

Lawmakers who were part of the budget deal have ramped up the pressure to get the work done, holding a news conference Dec. 1 to urge Ducey to act. State Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, acknowledged the add-on demands from some lawmakers, but insisted there are the needed 20 votes in the Senate and 40 in the House to lift the spending cap, regardless of other issues. All they need, she said, is for Ducey to call them back to Capitol.

Ducey is not so sure. He has said he is in discussions with lawmakers and he can't commit to calling a special session unless he is confident the requisite votes are locked in.

A last chance for many issues

On Monday, state Sen. Sean Bowie, D-Phoenix, said the demands to hike the $7,000 voucher award is coming from Republicans looking to extract what they can from a special session before Hobbs takes over Jan. 2.

“Now that they know there is a Democratic governor for the next four years, this is probably their last chance," said Bowie. "The problem is, this was never part of the deal.”

Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship program distributes taxpayer dollars that otherwise would pay for a public school education to parents to spend on education programs they deem best for their child. The scholarship is worth 90% of the public school investment, a figure used to argue that the voucher program saves the state money. But an increase in the scholarship amount would undermine that point.

The average award is about $7,000 per child; the amount is more for special-need students. Since the program was expanded this year to all students, enrollment has exploded.

Other hurdles due to the calendar

There are other challenges beyond policy to a potential special session. Finding a time when lawmakers can get to the Capitol is a logistics problem.

Some lawmakers are on a trade mission to Brazil this week. In mid-week, another contingent of lawmakers will travel to Hawaii for a session hosted by the Conference of State Legislatures. In addition, convincing people who lost their races, or chose to not to seek re-election, to return to the Capitol amid the holiday bustle could prove difficult.

A special session would be three days, at a minimum, although the full 90-member body would not have to be present every day to get work done.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona school voucher program proponents seek larger payouts