PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A $16.1 billion state budget passed both legislative chambers Saturday night.
Voting wrapped up in the House before 9 p.m., and the Senate got it done about an hour later, officially marking the end of the 2024 session for the state legislature.
A more than $1.3 billion budget shortfall forced state lawmakers to make tough choices about what programs and projects to kill or postpone. 16 bills passed as part of the budget package aimed at reducing spending by more than a billion dollars.
Beth Lewis is the Executive Director of Save Our Schools Arizona. She calls this budget sad and argues it gives no new dollars to public schools.
She says the ESA program has become a coupon for the rich and reform is needed to better support low income students.
“The ESA voucher program has shown in a nonpartisan report last week that it’s driving half of the budget deficit. So, you know, anything that’s driving hundreds of millions of dollars of deficit should clearly be the first thing on the table to be, you know, reined in and yet Republicans absolutely stubbornly refuse to touch that program in any way shape or form,” said Lewis.
Republican Speaker of the House, Ben Toma, disagrees.
“That’s just not true. The truth of the matter is that those dollars are being spent by the taxpayers anyway. The only question is where. The ESA program was my program. I’m the one who created it, right. Of course I’m going to defend it. But remember that we’re shifting dollars from one bucket to another, that’s not the same,” he said. “Parents want this. This is not a partisan issue outside of this building and outside of the Capitol. If you talk to Democrats, you talk Republicans, you talk to Independents, everybody loves ESAs and school choice. So, Arizona, it’s here to stay and we’ve protected it.”
The budget was a bipartisan agreement that Governor Katie Hobbs negotiated with the House Speaker and Senate President.
Gov. Hobbs released the following statement:
“Arizonans can rest assured that their state has a balanced budget. I’m thankful for members of the legislature who came together, compromised, and passed this bipartisan agreement. By working together, we made responsible choices that protected critical services that everyday Arizonans rely on while closing a $1.8 billion deficit. Despite that deficit, we made important investments in delivering childcare to working families, combatting the fentanyl epidemic and securing our border, and protecting critical health and human services for vulnerable Arizonans. “But I know we still have more work to do. While this bipartisan budget delivers reforms to the ESA program, they are not enough. I stand committed to bringing much needed accountability and transparency to the unsustainable ESA program that significantly contributes to the state’s budget deficit.”
Here’s what the bipartisan balanced budget includes:
- Delivers resources for the Department of Health Services to protect vulnerable Arizonans, hold bad actors accountable, and enforce new standards created under the bipartisan Long Term Care reform bill
- Does not cut basic state aid to public schools despite a $1.8 billion deficit
- Provides 1.5 million meals to working class children in school with $3.8 million to the Healthy School Meals program
- Secures $12 million to expand access to quality, affordable childcare for Arizona workers
- Includes an Aggregate Expenditure Limit extension to give public schools the budget certainty they need
- Caps STO spending and includes new standards for schools receiving ESAs to keep students safe
- Protects the historic FY24 $150 million Housing Trust Fund deposit and commits $15 million more to build housing that’s affordable for working class Arizonans
- Funds Governor Hobbs’ SAFE (Stopping Arizona’s Fentanyl Epidemic) Initiative, including:
- $1 million to DHS to distribute and equip first responders with lifesaving overdose reversal medication
- $3 million to DEMA to fund the Counter Drug Task Force to assist local law enforcement efforts with fentanyl interdiction
- $1 million additional ongoing and a $4 million one-time deposit to DPS for the Local Border Support line item to support border communities fighting drug trafficking
Attorney General Kris Mayes released the following statement:
“I am extremely disappointed our Democratic Governor, along with GOP leadership at our State Legislature, would put our $1.14 billion, 18-year opioid One Arizona Agreement at risk by attempting to sweep opioid funds to backfill budget deficits caused by GOP policies. Though I repeatedly warned them this is an unlawful use of these funds, they proceeded with moving forward anyway. I am beyond thankful to the legislators who spoke up on this issue and who understand the dire need to use these funds in the manner and intent they are meant to be used for. I have stated publicly and very clearly that I refuse to release these funds in this way as it would violate the agreement, and I stand by those words today. This is an egregious grab. I will do everything in my power to protect these opioid settlement funds for all Arizonans.
Let’s start off by remembering how we got here. A number of pharmaceutical companies grossly misrepresented the dangers and addictiveness of their drugs – opioids – to blatantly enrich themselves. They created marketing ploys, pushed prescriptions and caused death and chaos. This terrible scandal has killed more than a million Americans since the epidemic started. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, colleagues and friends. Communities and families ripped apart, hearts crushed, a public health crisis that has wreaked havoc in every corner of every state across our country – including Arizona, which is now in the bullseye of our fentanyl crisis.
Nearly all of us know someone who has died, someone who has become addicted, someone who has had an overdose from these lethal drugs over the course of this many-year public health crisis. Arizona has seen more than 11,500 opioid overdose deaths since 2017, more than 26,000 non-fatal opioid overdose events since 2017 and more than 98,000 emergency room visits for suspected drug overdose since 2020.
The One Arizona Agreement was created to effectively distribute $1.14 billion in opioid settlement funds over 18 years. The state, counties, cities and towns reached this agreement to disburse funds based on population and severity of harm, with the State receiving 44% of the total – $502 million, and the counties set to receive 56%, or $639 million, to distribute to cities and towns within the region. As the legal and fiduciary steward responsible for these funds, it is my duty to ensure they are legally spent, that the process is transparent and that these funds are spent according to the agreement – focusing on prevention, education and treatment within our communities.
There has been national scrutiny and attention on how these monies are being spent, with many comparisons being drawn to big tobacco settlements of our past. If there is one thing I can applaud my predecessor on, it is the fact that our opioid settlement agreements were crafted thoughtfully to include clear guidelines for disbursement and transparency. Having traveled across our state holding listening sessions on our fentanyl crisis, I know there is a dire need for resources in every community, with different needs across these communities.
I look forward to the day when we can put politics and power plays aside to better protect public health, get these funds out into the communities who so desperately need them and save Arizona lives. Until then, I will continue to do what I was elected to do – be the lawyer for the people of our great state and protect these opioid settlement funds that too many people lost their lives for.”
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