The Arizona Senate voted to raise the aggregate expenditure limit, which is the budget cap schools are allowed to spend during the school year, in order to prevent Arizona public schools from losing up to $1.2 billion in funding.
The Arizona House voted on Feb. 15 to waive the constitutional cap on spending that would be exceeded by March 1.
Despite the House passing this measure in mid-February, it stalled in the Senate until Feb. 21. The 23-6 vote came with just one week left before the required March 1 deadline.
In 1980, the spending cap or limit was placed in the Arizona Constitution utilizing a formula to determine the aggregate expenditure limit. It is adjusted every year depending on inflation and the amount of students enrolled in schools.
Last year’s enrollment significantly dropped due to COVID-19 because of parents pulling their children out of school and other COVID-19 related precautionary measures.
The six Senate members who voted against raising the spending limit were Republicans. They were hesitant to raise the spending cap over concerns that waiving this expenditure would continue to fund public schools that have been continuously demanding funding.
“All we get is, ‘We need more,'” said Sen. Vince Leach, R-Saddlebrook, portraying the public schools as ungrateful for wanting to extend the budget cap. His vote was a no.
If the cap was not increased by March 1, Arizona schools would have had to cut a combined $1.2 billion from their budgets. According to azcentral, this would amount to a 16% decrease for each public school district.
“The Senate made the right choice today by joining the House in suspending the school budget cap this year. And while it shouldn’t have taken this long to fix this issue, I’m grateful disaster was averted,” said Arizona State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman in a tweet Monday afternoon shortly after the Senate made their decision.
Funding is so crucial for Arizona public schools to be able to properly and adequately teach the youth of Arizona.
With the measure being passed by both the House and Senate with the needed two-thirds vote, the measure becomes law.
Contact the reporter at cgilmor7@asu.edu
Cecelia, who is Downtown Devil's education editor, is a journalism student at Arizona State University. When she is not reporting she enjoys running, listening to Rex Orange County and being from New York.
