State budget set for House vote today
Democrats say they will be at the House of Representatives on Thursday, when the state budget is scheduled for a vote.
House Republican leaders say they wish the Democrats would stay away, as they did Tuesday, when the party in the minority thwarted plans to debate the budget.
The friction between the parties,
along with controversial policy proposals from school vouchers to election procedures, sets the stage for a contentious session. On the table: a $12.8 billion state budget proposal and its accompanying $1 billion income-tax cut.
The state Senate passed an 11-bill package early Wednesday that contained myriad last-minute amendments. Many of those proposals are expected to come before the House on Thursday.
Both chambers have to approve the budget package before it is sent to Gov. Doug Ducey to sign.
If the Senate’s marathon budget session is any indication (it lasted about 16 hours), there will be much debate.
House Majority Leader Ben Toma, RPeoria, wishes it weren’t so. He’d prefer it if the Democrats stayed home.
“They’ve already made their stance clear,” Toma said Wednesday. “They’ll just take more time.”
He said the Republicans will have all 31 of their members in chambers on Thursday, providing the majority needed for a quorum. Earlier this week, Republicans apparently were counting on the Democrats to help establish a quorum, as four GOP members were planning to vote remotely. Lawmakers have to be in the room to create a quorum.
Rep. Jennifer Longdon, the assistant minority leader in the House, declined Toma’s dis-invitation. But she made it clear it’s the Republicans’ duty to make sure there are enough people present to work, especially since this is a budget they want and that Democrats oppose.
“If they have quorum, we’ll absolutely be there,” Longdon, D-Phoenix, said. Democrats, she said, have a duty to speak for the people they represent.
Longdon said she suspects the Republican majority will try to shut down debate.
Some of the contentious topics: School vouchers. The Senate voted to expand the state’s school voucher program to an estimated 60% of Arizona students. That would allow students to apply their state public-school funding to private-school tuition.
The proposal stalled this year until its last-minute appearance on Tuesday as a budget amendment. Democrats and a few House Republicans oppose the idea. Unclear is whether those Republicans are willing to potentially hold up the budget over the issue.
Penalties for “biased” teaching. Senators revived and revised a bill that would punish schools if they offered curriculum and classroom discussions on controversial topics. In its newest form, the former Senate Bill 1532 would make school districts and charter schools subject to fines of up to $5,000 for any lessons or discussions that would portray any one sex, race or ethnic group as better than the other. An earlier version of the bill would have fined teachers.
Seen as an attempt to block efforts to offer a wider view of racial, social and economic history, critics say it’s cookiecutter legislation introduced in many states and intended to fire up conservative constituencies.
Tax cuts. The drive to move to a flatter income tax has inflamed passions on both sides of the aisle. Republicans, along with Ducey, say moving toward a single income-tax rate of 2.5% would keep Arizona competitive and protect higher income earners from the education tax hike created by Proposition 208.
Democrats call it a tax cut for the wealthy and argue the $1.3 billion cut to state revenues could be better spent on state programs such as education and infrastructure, with room for a one-time tax rebate.
Schools and COVID-19. Senate Bill 1824 would bar school districts from requiring the COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (or HPV) vaccines as a condition of school attendance. It also blocks school boards from mandating face coverings for students.
Universities and community colleges could not require a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of returning to class, according to Senate Bill 1825. The bill also would prevent higher-education facilities from imposing face-mask requirements on unvaccinated students and staff. That would be allowed only under a governor’s executive order.
However, the bill would allow a COVID-19 vaccine requirement if a student is working in a health-care setting.
Employers and COVID-19. Employers would have to allow reasonable accommodations to employees who don’t have a COVID-19 vaccination because of sincerely held beliefs, unless it would cause an “undue burden” on the employer and cost more than a minimal amount of money.
Election audit review. Senate Bill 1819 sets up a committee to receive the results of the Senate’s ongoing audit of Maricopa County election results, recommend actions the Legislature should take based on those results, and calls for a special session to implement those recommendations.
It would also set aside $500,000 in state funds to study political bias in social media. Its introduction comes after major social media companies banned former President Donald Trump after a crowd of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.