Arizona State Legislature waives education funding cap

PHOENIX (KYMA, KECY) – The HCR2001 bill gives Arizona schools the ability to spend just over $1 billion appropriated last year.

The bill passed the Arizona State House on Tuesday and made its way successfully through the Arizona State Senate on Wednesday.

Without the bill, schools would have exceeded the spending limit on March 1 and would have had to quickly plan for cutbacks that could have included closures or layoffs.

Almost one million students would have been affected.

The spending cap does not affect public charter schools.

Although the bill waives the education funding cap for the 2022-2023 school year, the cap will remain in place for years to come.

“We are glad that the education funding cap is no longer an issue for 2022-2023,” said Marisol Garcia, President of the Arizona Education Association. 

“But our state legislature ultimately needs to eliminate the cap entirely, so that we are not forced to have this same fight year after year. Educators are signing contracts for the 2023-2024 school year right now, and the constant, looming possibility of months-long school closures only makes it that much harder for schools to retain qualified and passionate educators."