CEBV Weekly: June 3, 2024
Ignoring the billion-dollar-a-year voucher grift only gets us a deeper hole.
We’ll keep this short and sweet: The House reconvenes on Tuesday, June 4. They are expected to take up the racist, unfunded and uconstitutional “brown people scary” ballot referral HCR2060. The Senate doesn’t reconvene until Wednesday, June 12.
The real news this week? An impending budget crisis.
The Legislature and Gov. Hobbs are turning their focus in earnest to budget talks, and once again, it appears the governor has no intention to address the exorbitant costs of ESA vouchers. When asked, Democrats and apologists make the excuse that “Republicans simply won’t entertain any talk of reform” and try to change the subject.
This is unacceptable. The out-of-control cost of universal ESA vouchers is directly responsible for our state’s current $1.8 billion budget deficit. Making cuts instead to roads, public safety, health care and public schools so we can preserve private-school coupons for the rich is the inarguable definition of insanity — especially given that Gov. Hobbs literally campaigned on scaling back the wildly irresponsible universal ESA vouchers that threaten to bankrupt our state.
A major mistake. Last year’s budget saw Hobbs renege on her own promise to rein in Arizona’s unaccountable ESA voucher scam, instead delighting MAGA grifters by leaving vouchers intact. That budget, and the threats and arm-twisting she used to pass it, squandered every cent of the state’s $2 billion surplus, badly damaged her relationships with Democratic allies, and forced the resignation of a high-level gubernatorial staffer. It’s unclear why Hobbs would choose to tee up a repeat of that terrible decision.
“Republican leaders sold [Hobbs’] plan to their own members, including those in the Freedom Caucus who were inclined to vote no. A big selling point was the idea that the state would keep universal ESA vouchers. Democrats didn't see the budget until about a week before it was unveiled.” — Ray Stern for the Arizona Republic
Playing weakly. Hobbs came into office last year amid the widespread assumption that she’d leverage her 9th Floor clout to achieve major wins. Instead, as we said in our 2023 budget explainer, she played her hand weakly, achieving a handful of smaller wins but losing big in the major areas that matter most — like school vouchers.
A fatalist perspective. You’ve probably heard one of these: “Republicans will respond to nothing, so we might as well not even try.” How about “They said no, so we have no choice but to back down"? Or even “We can’t get anything done unless we flip party control of the legislature”? This is shortsighted thinking, and it’s directly harming our state. What this moment calls for is courageous leadership and a backbone — and we’re just not seeing it.
“Rather than constantly retreating — which demoralizes their base — Democrats should learn to fight, heeding both Bitecofer and Shenker-Osorio's advice.”
— Paul Rosenberg for Salon Magazine
Midnight on June 30. Hobbs and Democratic lawmakers have until the end of this month to fight for reform with every fiber of their being. In the meantime — and even past that point — Hobbs should veto every budget that doesn’t include voucher reform.
It’s been done before. In 2009, with Arizona facing a $1.6 billion shortfall, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer drew a hard line in the sand. She gave a speech demanding new revenues to help bridge the gap, prompting some lawmakers to walk out. And she refused to allow draconian cuts to K-12 education, forcing lawmakers back to the table to acquiesce to her wishes. Budget negotiations that year spanned a record-breaking nine special sessions and lasted through the end of August, but they got done. We’re not fans of Brewer overall (the infamous finger-wagging episode comes to mind), but she certainly knew how to fight. Hobbs could take several lessons from her.
The framework exists. Again, we point to Jan Brewer. In 2013, Brewer indicated she wouldn’t sign any state budget that didn’t include Medicaid expansion, and she got her wish despite the objections of Republican then-lawmakers like Kelli Ward and Andy Biggs. Hobbs’ current chief of staff Chad Campbell was the House minority leader then, and was instrumental in crafting that deal, so we know the 9th Floor possesses the skill and wherewithal to get this done too.
Earn our respect. Voters respect politicians who fight for us and the issues we care about. Hobbs must stiffen her spine and follow through on her demands, even (or especially) when pushed. No budget will pass that does not earn her signature. She gets the final say as governor, and she needs to act like it.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Contact Gov. Hobbs and insist that she fight for a state budget that does something about our out-of-control ESA voucher problem this year. You can reach her at 602-542-4331 or engage@az.gov. If you’ve already done this, please do it again! She needs to hear from us.
⏰⏰ If you have 20 minutes: Also contact your House representatives (or legislative leadership) and ask them to oppose HCR2060. This bill has split firmly along party lines, so if you’re contacting Republicans, remind them that HCR2060 is costing them support from longtime business allies and that it may ultimately cost them majority rule in November. If you’re contacting Democrats, thank them for their fiscal conservatism and basic human decency, and for upholding the US Constitution.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 45 minutes: Arizona desperately needs a different legislature. Find the competitive legislative district nearest you1, then sign up to volunteer for, or donate to, the candidates that best represent your values.
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom at 4pm on Sunday for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation! This week we’ll feature Athena Salman with Reproductive Freedom For All. Stick around for a second hour and enjoy our updated and revised Messaging for Impact presentation — all the more timely given the budget issues we’re now facing. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of session. Sign up here.
2024 Session Timeline
Sunday, 6/30 Constitutionally mandated deadline for a state budget
Flag this handy list of contact info, committee chairs and assignments, updated for 2024.
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Those districts are 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, 23, and 27. (Yes, we’re going to keep repeating this until November 5; why do you ask?)
