💪SOSAZ’s 10th Year at the Capitol💪

🔮 Welcome to the 2026 Legislative Preview — which marks our TENTH year of advocating for public education at the AZ State Capitol 👏😓💪😦 There’s never been a better time to fight for public education. With the 2026 session set to begin this Monday, January 12, here’s a rundown of what we’re seeing and hearing, and the issues we expect to receive top billing in the months to come. 

😟 Tight finances. This is the elephant in the room: the bill has come due for years of tax cuts for the rich (especially former Gov. Ducey’s 2021 “flat tax”) and the 2022 universal expansion of ESA vouchers. Lawmakers can’t say we didn’t warn them: the $2 billion one-two punch of slashed revenues and irresponsible spending has left Arizona without enough funding for schools, roads, healthcare, water, and so much more. In October, state budget analysts gave a bleak forecast of rising costs and scarce funds, projecting the state will have only $67 million to fund one-time projects in the upcoming year. To put that number in perspective, the budget lawmakers passed in June included $580 million in one-time projects, including repairs for school facilities, an opportunity weight for low-income students, and District Additional Assistance for public schools. All of that is now at risk. 

💸 New, pricey tax cuts. As if that’s not bad enough, the Trump administration’s 2025 budget (HR1) is looming in the wings. Analysts say Arizona will need $461 million for the upcoming budget year alone to align our state tax code with these federal changes. Republicans want full conformity (meaning tax cuts for rich friends and corporations), but have not offered any suggestions on how to pay for that. Hobbs is suggesting a smaller tax-cut package focused on the middle class and has once again proposed using savings from ESA voucher reforms (which would likely add up to hundreds of millions of dollars) to pay for state tax cuts. However, year after year, Republicans have refused to even discuss the barest reforms for Arizona’s scandal-plagued ESA vouchers, and are instead doubling down on expanding the off-the-rails voucher program. They’ve even snuck a federal voucher opt-in into their full Trumpian federal tax cut package (check out the last page). Any action on this issue will likely take place early in session so it can take effect by the time Arizonans file their taxes. This will be one of the first issues out of the starting gate: Republicans have scheduled a rare joint committee hearing on Wednesday to fast-track their tax-cuts-and-vouchers proposal. (See “Bills in Committee” below for what you can do!)  

Renewing Prop 123. For the third straight year, lawmakers will debate the renewal of a measure that, until its expiration last June, directed proceeds from Arizona’s state land trust toward our district public schools. Last year, because lawmakers couldn’t agree on the details, renewal fell apart, and the legislature had to backfill $380 million from the state general fund to keep Prop 123 funds (which are required by a lawsuit settlement) flowing. Democrats wanted the money to fill schools’ broad and varied needs, while Republicans wanted it restricted to offering a bonus to just certain types of teachers — and also to shoehorn in constitutional protections for deeply unpopular, budget-busting universal ESA vouchers. This year’s tight budget forecast will provide a major incentive for lawmakers to hash out an agreement and reclaim that $380 million for other spending. Though nobody’s position seems to have changed since last year’s stalemate, lawmakers still say they’re “hopeful.” 

🗳️ Ballot measures. Republicans have their eyes on the November election, and they’re hoping to convince voters to eject Gov. Hobbs. They intend to try to put her in as many uncomfortable positions as possible to make her look bad in voters’ eyes, while turning out their MAGA base by going around Gov. Hobbs’ veto stamp and putting culture-war issues she previously vetoed on the ballot alongside her. Already introduced for 2026 are attacks on LGBTQ+ students that we’ve seen year after year — banning trans girls from girls’ sports and banning trans kids from using the public school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. The question is how many of these harmful measures Republicans will refer to the November ballot along with the three they passed last year. It’s anyone’s guess whether we’ll end up with another multi-page ballot, but we’ll note that Republicans poured major funding into anti-trans ads and attacks during the 2025 elections and lost across the board. As it turns out, being hateful isn’t so popular. 

😡 Public school attacks. In a clear demonstration of how out of touch our legislative majority is with the wishes of everyday Arizonans (who overwhelmingly support public schools, teachers, and students), they’re talking about expanding Arizona’s unaccountable universal ESA voucher program even further. One Republican wants to force public schools to serve families who choose an ESA voucher and wish to participate in public school sports programs (SB1004). Other terrible ideas so far include allowing teachers to carry concealed firearms in schools (HB2076) and requiring public schools to teach creationism alongside actual science (SB1025). The good news is that, as long as Arizonans have Gov. Hobbs, these appalling proposals will go nowhere.  

💥🌟2026 Legislative Preview THIS Sunday, Jan 11! 🌟💥Join SOSAZ this Sunday January 11 from 6-7pm on a virtual statewide call to get the latest on what to expect out of the legislative session this year, how you can plug, and be in community with other public school advocates. There’s never been a better time to fight for public education. We hope to see you there!

📣 TAKE ACTION - Stop the Voucher Grift! 🚫💎 Arizona’s ESA voucher program has ballooned to $1 billion a year, and is wide open to bad actors. We need you to speak up! Tell Arizona leaders you expect them to put guardrails on this program NOW using our easy-to-use tools.

📨 Use our easy one-click tool to send an email to AZ’s elected officials: bit.ly/StopVoucherGrift 

➕ Extra Credit! We also have a tool that lets you call your members of the AZ legislature: bit.ly/StopVoucherGriftCalls 

RTS on Bills in Committee

🛑 Use Request to Speak on the following bills:

👎 NO on SB1106  • 👎 NO on HB2153

SB1106 and HB2153, sponsored by Sen. JD Mesnard (R-13) and Rep. Justin Olson (R-10), would fully align Arizona's tax code with last year's sweeping federal budget bill, adopting its pricey tax cuts for corporations and the rich — and opting Arizona in to Trump’s federal school voucher program. This scheme would rapidly accelerate school privatization in Arizona, allowing families already receiving state-funded ESA vouchers to also receive massive kickbacks from federal taxes. Like Arizona’s vouchers, Trump’s federal vouchers include zero accountability for private schools, opening the door for even more grift and discrimination across Arizona, and are designed to be used by wealthy individuals as a massive tax shelter. There is no cap on funding, meaning it could cost the federal government tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars every year – draining from public programs and public schools. Both bills are scheduled for a joint hearing of the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees on Wednesday. OPPOSE. 

AZ’s Request to Speak website is under construction. Just click the “advanced” button and proceed to the site.

Arizona’s Request to Speak (RTS) is an online tool that lets everyday citizens give Arizona state lawmakers our feedback on bills from the comfort of home – but you don’t actually have to speak! It’s an easy way to weigh in on state politics, stay informed on the bills that directly affect us, and make sure our elected officials honor the wishes of us, their constituents.

Need a Request to Speak account? Sign up here to have one created for you: Sign up here!

Need help? Attend an RTS Training! Register here!!

Celebration of Arizona Public Schools

March 7, 2026 💫

Subscribe to Substack!

Contact Us 

[email protected]

Save Our Schools Arizona
PO Box 28370
Tempe, AZ 85285
United States

Paid for by Save Our Schools Arizona. Not authorized by any candidate. 

unsubscribe