Arizona legislature adjourns after school voucher expansion

PHOENIX (AP) — Republican lawmakers on Wednesday dropped a push to significantly expand Arizona’s school voucher program, instead adopting limited changes before adjourning one of the longest legislative sessions in state history.

The agreement on vouchers and a handful of other disputes ended a stalemate between the House and Senate that held up the final pieces of the state budget and kept lawmakers in session for 171 days.

Three House Republicans had balked at a Senate-approved plan to open the voucher program to about 600,000 new low-income students. Instead, they agreed only to shorten waiting periods for the roughly 250,000 children already eligible.

The voucher dispute highlighted the contentious nature of the 2021 session, in which Republicans had razor-thin majorities in both the House and Senate. Opposition from any any of the 31 Republicans in the House or the 16 in the Senate was enough to kill legislation if no Democrats were on board, creating what Republican Rep. John Kavanagh called “47 governors” with veto power.

Despite the narrow margins and the failure on school vouchers, Republicans advanced a staunchly conservative agenda this year that included massive tax cuts focused primarily on the wealthy, new abortion restrictions, limits on sexual education and election law changes.

Democrats were frustrated. “This as been a really trying session,” said Rep. Charlene Fernandez, a Democrat from Yuma.

In the final hours of the session on Wednesday, Republicans gave up on the push to expand the voucher program to cover more than half the state’s 1.1 million public school children.

Under the agreement, children who already qualify for the program will no longer have to spend 100 days in a public school before receiving a voucher to pay for private-school tuition. Children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and live in the boundaries of a poorly rated public school will be eligible immediately, while others will have to spend 45 days in their public school.

With the shorter waiting period, “they don’t have to linger and struggle in the school,” said Sen. Paul Boyer, a Glendale Republican who advocated for the full expansion.

“The school could be a great school, but it might not work for that kid,” Boyer said.

The voucher program is open to foster children and those with special needs, living on a Native American reservation or attending a poorly rated school. Children with parents in the military, a blind or deaf parent, or a sibling who gets a voucher also qualify.