Ballot Referrals:

• • ⚠️SCR1015, Mesnard (R-13), would ask voters to require ballot measures to collect signatures from a percentage of voters in each of Arizona’s 30 legislative districts: 10% for initiatives and 15% for a constitutional amendment. Awaits House Rules Committee, then the floor (and the ballot). OPPOSE.

• ⚠️SCR1024, Wadsack (R-17), asks voters to enshrine racism in the state Constitution. This would negatively impact student learning, teacher retention and teacher recruitment. Awaits House Rules Committee, then the floor (and the ballot). OPPOSE.

• ⚠️SCR1034, Mesnard (R-13), would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to automatically extend the previous year’s state budget if lawmakers don’t pass one in time. This would remove the only structural motivation lawmakers have to work together. SCR1034 awaits House Rules Committee, then the floor (and the ballot). See duplicate bill HCR2038, Livingston (R-28). OPPOSE.
• ⚠️SCR1035, Mesnard (R-13), would mandate automatic 50% income tax cuts if Arizona has a surplus. These are permanent cuts to the state general fund – and desperately needed dollars that could be used to bring funding for K-12 schools out of the bottom 5 nationally. Awaits House Rules Committee, then the floor (and the ballot). OPPOSE.

Attacks on Teachers & Curriculum:

• SB1001, Kavanagh (R-3), would ban teachers from using a student’s chosen pronouns without written parental permission. This manufactured, divisive culture-war bill further politicizes teachers and will deepen Arizona’s ongoing teacher retention crisis. Doesn’t apply to taxpayer-funded private schools taking ESA vouchers. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
• SB1040, Kavanagh (R-3), would ban trans kids from using the school bathrooms, changing facilities and “sleeping quarters” that align with their gender identities, further politicizing teachers. Doesn’t apply to taxpayer-funded private schools taking ESA vouchers. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
• SB1323, Hoffman (R-15), would make it a felony for any public school employee to violate last year’s ban on referring students to or using any so-called “sexually explicit” material, which includes commonly taught literature and even the Bible. Doesn’t apply to taxpayer-funded private schools taking ESA vouchers. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
• HB2523, Parker (R-10), would require every K-12 student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily at district and charter schools. Doesn’t apply to taxpayer-funded private schools taking ESA vouchers. Passed the full House 2/21 on partisan lines, with Republicans in support. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE. 
• HB2705, Biasiucci (R-30), would create a training pilot program for district and charter school teachers and staff that qualifies them to carry concealed in schools, and appropriate $10 million from the general fund to run it. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
• HB2786, Heap (R-10), would require school boards to notify parents of recommended or funded “training opportunities” for staff. Part of the hunt for nonexistent “critical race theory” in schools. Doesn’t apply to taxpayer-funded private schools taking ESA vouchers. Awaits a Senate floor vote. OPPOSE.

Voucher Expansions:

• SB1243, Mesnard (R-13), would bolster profit for STO vouchers by rolling them into a single category and increasing the maximum contribution amount. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE. 
• HB2014, Livingston (R-28), would more than triple over 3 years the amount Arizona spends on a specific type of STO voucher. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
• HB2504, Parker (R-10), would expand STO vouchers to students in foster care. Public schools serve the vast majority of foster youth, who are already eligible for ESA vouchers. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.

Attacks on Schools, School Boards, Districts:

• SB1026, Kavanagh (R-3), threatens school funding by banning “drag shows” for people under 18. Violators would lose state funds for 3 years. Broad enough to include school plays and pep rallies. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE. 

• 🗑️SB1331, Shamp (R-29), would allow parents to carry guns on school property with a valid concealed weapons permit, violating federal law. Vetoed 4/17. OPPOSE.

• SB1410, Wadsack (R-17), would require public school boards (but not charter schools or ESA-funded voucher schools) to establish the equivalent of Supt. Horne’s “teacher snitch line” for parents to report purported violations of their rights. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.

• SB1564, Kaiser (R-2), would allow private and ESA voucher students to try out for public school sports. Athletics should be something parents consider when choosing a school for their student. When parents opt out of local schools, they opt out of extracurriculars. Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.

• SB1596, Mesnard (R-13), would require school district offices to serve as polling places if elections officials ask for it, and require teachers to attend inservice training instead of volunteering at the polls. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.

• SB1599, Mesnard (R-13), would fine school districts that don’t post teacher salary information as already required by law up to $5,000 per day. Awaits a House floor vote; scheduled 3/20, but retained. OPPOSE. 

• SB1694, Hoffman (R-15), would ban the state, including public schools, from requiring “diversity, equity, and inclusion programs” for its employees. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.

• SB1696, Hoffman (R-15), broadly doubles down on a ban on district and charter schools exposing minors to “sexually explicit materials.” Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.

• HB2539, Pingerelli (R-28), would force the State Board of Education to implement a “public awareness program” to prop up school choice in Arizona, including free, mandatory publicity for taxpayer-funded ESA vouchers. Mired in the concurrence process; after that, awaits transmittal to the governor’s desk (and a likely veto). OPPOSE.

Resources & Accountability:

• • SB1182, Bennett (R-1), would give private, for-profit universities a share of the $20 million in tax dollars that helps fund teacher training programs, decreasing funding meant for Arizona’s three public universities. This is not only privatization, but poor value for tax money. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
  • SB1281, Shamp (R-29), gives state income tax rebates of $200 individual, $400 joint, to anyone who filed a return in 2022. This would drain $936 million from the state General Fund, which would mean cuts to K-12 education. Awaits House Rules Committee. A smaller, similar provision was wrapped into the budget. OPPOSE.

• 🗑️SB1255, Kern (R-27), would restrict Arizona agency rulemaking and substitute the legislative process instead. This would kneecap the state’s ability to regulate unaccountable, wasteful spending, such as with universal ESA vouchers. Vetoed 5/9. OPPOSE.

• SB1559, Kaiser (R-2), is a state tax cut for corporations. This would drain money from the state General Fund, spelling cuts to K-12 education. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.

• SB1577, Mesnard (R-13), would mandate automatic 50% income tax cuts if Arizona has a surplus. These are permanent cuts to the state general fund – and desperately needed dollars that could be used to bring funding for K-12 schools out of the bottom 5 nationally. Awaits House Rules Committee, then the floor. OPPOSE.
• HB2003, Livingston (R-28), would slash corporate income taxes nearly in half by 2025. Arizona’s tax giveaways already far outpace the entire state budget. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
• ✅HB2538, Pingerelli (R-28), would allow live, remote instruction for grades 9-12, with bonuses for passing grades. This would monetize learning, leading to cherry-picking of students and other forms of inequity. Wrapped into budget bills. OPPOSE.

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