Lawsuit seeks to block Republican measure that could void ESA accountability initiative
The teacher-backed groups trying to reform Arizona's ESA program filed a lawsuit to block a competing ballot measure referred by Republican lawmakers.
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The teacher-backed groups trying to reform Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) school voucher program are suing to block a competing ballot measure referred by Republican lawmakers.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday by Save Our Schools Arizona — which is a public education advocacy group — and the Protect Education, Accountability Now committee — the name of the political action group behind the Protect Education Act — asks a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to prevent the Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act from appearing on the November ballot.
The Protect Education Act would increase ESA oversight, prevent families earning more than $150,000 from using the program and pull leftover ESA funds back into the state’s general fund after a student finishes high school. Organizers have until July 2 to turn enough valid signatures to get it on the ballot in November.
Republicans in the Arizona Legislature are trying to counter through House Concurrent Resolution 2048 — aka the Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act. Concurrent resolutions allow lawmakers to refer measures to voters without the governor’s approval.
In addition to protecting military families’ ESA accounts, the Republican-backed measure would void the entirety of any other bill or ballot measure that violates it.
The ESA program allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses. In its current form, money left over in the accounts after high school can be used for college.
Because the Protect Education Act could potentially remove leftover funds from military families’ accounts, the entire measure would be voided if voters approve both it and the Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act.
What is the legal basis of lawsuit seeking to block ballot referral
The lawsuit seeking to block the military ballot measure argues that it violates two aspects of the Arizona constitution: the separate amendment rule and the no-severance provision.
The separate amendment rule prevents measures from combining multiple elements in a single measure. The lawsuit argues under this rule, the military family protection aspect of the measure referred by Legislature can’t legally be combined with a question about voiding ESA accountability.
The no-severance provision refers the requirement that the contents of a measure is clearly stated in the title. The lawsuit argues that the Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act title is misleading to voters, who might not realize it could remove ESA accountability, as well.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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Comments
5 Comments
True. But they’d have to call it what it is — the “Preserve and Protect Fraud and Abuse in the ESA System Proposition.”
Yeah, I think the SoSAZ group has a good case based on AZ constitutional law. But there is little or nothing to stop the MAGAts in the legislature from slapping together two separate concurrent resolutions for referendum this fall, working around the separate amendment and no-severance provisions.
Looks like plaintiffs have a good case. This is clearly nothing more than the corrupt MAGA legislature trying to run a bait and switch to prevent oversight of ESA by disguising it as a measure to benefit military families.