Last Week at the Legislature
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Keeping You Informed
We just completed the seventh week of the Arizona legislature's 56th session, and the decisions made or not made there will affect all of us. It's my great honor to serve as your representative on the House Education, Appropriations, and Sub-Appropriations Committee on Budgeting and Finance. Here's a recap of what happened last week and a few key bills going forward.
Judy
Representative Judy Schwiebert, LD2
jschwiebert@azleg.gov
"Crossover Week" in the House
This past week is known as Crossover Week. Committees have finished meeting on bills proposed in the House, and so the week is spent voting on bills that the one-seat Republican majority think deserve to be considered on the House Floor for possible transmission to the Senate.
Because the majority has exclusive control over committee and floor agendas, few Democrat bills that tackle the crucial issues we all face like the water, affordable housing, and teacher shortage crisis have even received a hearing. As a result, this past week out of the 118 bills we voted on, just two were from Democrats.
Instead, here is a sample of the bills that Republicans prioritized and passed last week.
HB2003: This Livingston’s bill would cut the Corporate Income Tax Rates to 2.5% which will mean over $2 Billion in cuts to state revenue over the next four years alone. I voted NO, but it passed along party lines, 31-29.
HB 2458: The Pingerelli/Mesnard anti-CRT bill continues the culture war attacks on teachers. CRT is not taught in Arizona’s public schools, but this bill threatens teachers with fines and loss their teaching certificate if a parent thinks that an accurate history might make their student feel bad. I voted NO, but it passed along party lines, 31-29.
HB 2415: This Biasiucci bill removes a voter from AEVL (receiving their ballot in the mail) if the voter did not cast an early ballot in one election cycle. I voted NO, but it passed along party lines, 31-29.
HB2394: This Smith bill prohibits the state, counties or cities from enforcing any US rules regarding taxes on firearm products. I voted NO, but it passed along party lines, 31-29
Preview of the Coming Week
Usually, "Crossover Week" lasts for just one week, but this year, the legislature is so far behind that we'll be voting on many additional bills this week.
I'm pleased to report that one of my bills has been scheduled in the Rules Committee, the pre-cursor to coming to the Floor for a vote. HCR2037, a Resolution Celebrating the Assyrian New Year.
Ancient Assyrians in Mesopotamia were the inventors of the wheel, and the first written alphabet. Millenia later, hundreds of thousands of Assyrians were slaughtered in a genocide known as the Seyfo. Today, tens of thousands of Assyrians now call Arizona their home. This year, I was honored to be asked to introduce this bipartisan Resolution to recognize their new year of 6773 as it approaches on April 1. It marks the beginning of a new year – the beginning of spring - a fresh start. I’m really pleased to sponsor this opportunity for 44 Republicans and Democrats to come together from districts across the Valley to honor our Assyrian neighbors and their many contributions historically as well as today to enrich all of our lives.
My Top Priority
Investing in Teachers & Public Schools
As a longtime teacher who came to the legislature to better invest in our children and schools, it was strange to find myself voting NO on HB2800 to increase teacher salaries in the House Appropriations Committee.
For too long, Arizona has been at the bottom of the nation in teacher salaries and per pupil spending. Our children deserve better. The teacher shortage crisis provides glaring evidence of the Republican majority’s neglect of the public schools chosen by the parents of 1.1 million students across Arizona.
That’s why my bill HB2779 would provide base funding to public schools to increase teacher salaries to the national median and increase pay for hourly employees by $4.00 per hour. However, it was never given a hearing since as a money bill, it would be considered in budget negotiations.
Yet this week, HB2800 was brought to the House Appropriations Committee for a vote.
Clearly, I absolutely agree that teachers should receive a significant raise.
But as they say, the devil is in the details. And many of the details in HB2800 are deeply troubling.
First, the plan leaves out special education teachers, counselors, instructional coaches and other vital members of the school team who are key to student success. Without them, we will grossly increase the burden on teachers.
An intent clause says the funds for increased pay are permanent, but the bill only provides one-time funding for the next two years. Schools could be forced to shut down if the legislature fails to provide the promised funding.
It also doesn't cover the full costs for schools as they face increased retirement and social security payments for higher salaries, increasing the inequities between wealthy districts and those in lower socio-economic areas.
The sponsor hasn't identified what he will cut out of the budget in order to pay for these increases. For too many years, instead of investing in our public schools, Republicans have prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy, and this year are giving away almost $400 million in taxpayer dollars to unaccountable private schools with no transparency .
Finally, unless we create a long-overdue permanent solution to the antiquated Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL), no matter how much we increase funding, schools cannot SPEND it. We should be prioritizing a solution for the AEL, yet the one-seat Republican majority has refused to put any of the several bills Democrats have proposed to update it.
Since I believe in working together, I've consulted nonpartisan groups like the Arizona School Board Association, the Arizona School Administrators, the Arizona Education Association, and the AZ Association of School Business Officials as well as individual Superintendents. All of them have shared serious concerns about HB2800.
While the sponsor apparently didn't consult the experts, I believe he and his colleagues have the knowledge and experience to know that in the long term, this plan won’t work. I'm disappointed that this seems to be one more public relations stunt instead of the real solutions our students and families deserve.
We finally have a governor who shares Arizonans' insistence that we increase teacher salaries and funding for public schools. Since Republicans have for years claimed that money bills should be considered as part of the budget, that's exactly what we should do now.
I hope you will join me in urging my colleagues to work together for workable bipartisan solutions with the Governor and those of us listening to the experts in education.
Highlights of Last Week
Monday was Presidents' Day
I was grateful for the chance to provide the Opening Prayer that's offered every day that the legislature meets. It seemed appropriate to quote President Lincoln's words when he urged us to act "With malice toward none, with charity for all." Then we began our discussion of bills in Committee of the Whole (COW) before voting in Third Read on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday was Game & Fish Day at the Capitol
My colleagues and I stopped by Wesley Bolin Plaza at lunch to learn more from Game & Fish staff about the many species unique to our state. It was so much fun to meet Gossie the Great Horned Owl. I'm committed to protecting our state's previous environment.
Wednesday was Arizona Dude Ranch Day
I have to admit that meeting Jennie the mini donkey was the highlight of my day.
Thursday I got to visit the Governor's office
I met briefly with some of her staff to talk about our shared priority to better invest in education.
On Friday We Had an Inspiring Visit to Sky Crossing Elementary in the PV District
A big thank you to their School Psychologist Dr. Stacy Anderson for giving Representatives Jennifer Pawlik, Laura Terech, and me a tour and for explaining the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) program that includes the social-emotional learning that's central to helping every student succeed.
Congratulations and huge thanks as well to the entire "Aviator" team Principal Chad Caudle, the instructional specialists, teachers, para-pro's, and classified staff. It takes the whole team to ensure every student can learn and thrive. Still, there's so much work to do, they need more staff.
