State Sen. Steve Farley, left, and Gov. Doug Ducey Thursday, Oct. 29, in Farley's Senate office.Listen:
Legislation to give Arizona K-12 schools $3.5 billion more in funding over the next decade passed the Arizona House of Representatives Thursday night on a 58-0 vote. The Senate votes Friday morning.
The three bills would give schools an infusion of $249 million this fiscal year, to settle a 5-year-old lawsuit by schools accusing the Legislature of unlawfully withholding voter-sanctioned inflation payments for several years.
The other bills would tap more money from the state's Land Trust Fund, which has more than $5 billion in it and is intended largely for permanent funding for schools. The proposal would require voter approval in an expected special election next May.
The Land Trust Fund idea, which came from Gov. Doug Ducey, has raised the ire of many Democrats and of state Treasurer Jeff DeWit and one of his predecessors, Dean Martin. Both have argued against it, including Martin's plea to the Senate Appropriations Committee to make alterations.
The committee turned down the idea, with all amendments blocked by Republican leadership. At one point, Senate President Andy Biggs came into the Appropriations Committee hearing and breathlessly insisted that the committee discount Martin's testimony.
Ducey, a former state treasurer himself, called the special session after pulling together a compromise deal with Republican lawmakers.
Democratic Sen. Steve Farley of Tucson was skeptical.
"I was rather disturbed to hear that 60 percent of this settlement is being paid for with land trust money, which is already going to schools," Farley said. "It is like somebody breaking into your house, stealing your money, giving you 70 percent back and you say, 'OK, fine'."
Yuma Republican Sen. Don Shooter, chair of the Appropriations Committee, defended what he admitted was an imperfect approach.
"You know, we've been in a pretty tight spot," Shooter said. "We want to start moving in the right direction. I think this is a great step."
Republican lawmakers cut $113 million in K-12 funding in this year's budget when it was passed in March, and Ducey signed it. He and Republican lawmakers have said consistently that they would balance the state's budget and would not raise taxes to do it.
This week's special session was the culmination of months of pressure, political wrangling and complaints from educators about Arizona's low level of school funding. Adding to it was a report this summer from the U.S. Census Bureau saying the state had the lowest school funding in the nation, and later that Arizona's teachers were among the lowest paid in the country.
At one point Thursday, Ducey walked the back-office hallways of the House and the Senate, shaking hands with legislators and staffers and thanking them or seeking their support.
He came into Farley's office, where the two had a confrontation in front of cameras. Afterward, Farley sent a Twitter message saying: "When the governor drops by your office to say 'you don't care about kids' if you don't vote yes on his flawed plan."
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