Arizona GOP budget proposal includes millions in education funding cuts, omits Prop 123

PHOENIX – The Arizona budget package introduced by Republicans this week trims millions in education-related spending and doesn’t include a school funding mechanism sought by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

The GOP budget proposal would cut $4 million from graduate medical education, $7 million from the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Office, $114,000 from community colleges and $16 million from Arizona State University.

Republicans delivered their budget plan more than a month after Hobbs cut off negotiations because of an impasse over a K-12 funding mechanism known as Proposition 123. The latest GOP budget proposal makes no mention of Prop 123, which was approved by voters in 2016 but expired last year.

Prop 123 increased the amount of State Land Trust money allotted to public education by about $300 million per year. The Legislature, which is under Republican control, would have to refer it to the ballot to give voters a chance to renew it in November.

Why did Republicans leave Prop 123 out if their budget proposal?

Republicans said their spending plan would fund core services, including education, while preserving the State Land Trust school funding for future generations.

Rep. Julie Willoughby, the House majority whip, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Tuesday that Prop 123 was not included because the revenue it could generate isn’t guaranteed.

“Prop 123 was something that we did a long time ago, and it has to go to the ballot. So, balancing a budget on something that the future may not produce for us is bad governing,” she said.

Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has been a vocal supporter of the renewal of Prop 123, saying it would help increase teacher salaries and retention.

Hobbs called the absence of Prop 123 in the GOP budget proposal “incredibly concerning.”

“Quite honestly, we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to direct a billion dollars into public education without raising taxes by a dime. This is something that the public is incredibly supportive of,” she told reporters Tuesday.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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