Hobbs calls Arizona ESA voucher program a ‘billion-dollar boondoggle’

Gov. Katie Hobbs called Arizona's universal school voucher program a "billion-dollar boondoggle" as it continues to eat up state tax dollars.

BY ROXANNE DE LA ROSA

May 30, 2025, 5:00 AM Updated: 11:42 am

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Watch: Gov. Katie Hobbs talks ESA program, Medicaid cuts and Arizona's budget | 15 mins

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs called Arizona’s universal school voucher program a “billion-dollar boondoggle” as it continues to eat up state tax dollars.

Recent reports found that school vouchers were going toward items such as a $16,000 cello and a Rolex watch, according to Hobbs.

“These are tax dollars that are being drained out of public schools, which are really the way that every student across the state has access to the quality education, that they deserve and (it’s) going to individual families,” Hobbs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos on Thursday.

What would Hobbs change about Arizona’s school voucher program?

The Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program allows families who don’t send their kids to public school to apply for and receive state funds to cover education expenses.

The ESA voucher program has no income caps, allowing anyone to apply for the funds regardless of how much money they make. That’s something Hobbs wants to change.

“We proposed really reasonable income limits, and it seems to continue to be an absolute nonstarter with Republicans in the Legislature who have championed this program, and it’s really frustrating,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs hopes to use the school program as a negotiating tool with Republicans, who control both chambers of the Legislature, as the current session winds down.

Critics of ESAs believe the program is a Republican effort to end the state’s public education system. Hobbs said she didn’t want to speculate about GOP motives.

However, she feels that it negatively impacts students in rural areas and on tribal reservations the most, creating education inequities.

“They don’t have the same educational choice opportunities that the kids in Paradise Valley who are using these vouchers have,” Hobbs said. “And so, it just takes funding out of the public school that they have access to and then they don’t have the same opportunity as other students.”