House Concurrent Resolution 2048

A Republican-led plan to call a special session in Arizona to negotiate with the Arizona Education Association (AEA) over school voucher reforms is unlikely to succeed. The plan aimed to block two citizen-led initiatives targeting the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, but failed after a negotiated compromise collapsed, leading Republicans to push a controversial bill that would effectively block ESA reforms.

Republican lawmakers in Arizona are considering a special session to negotiate a deal that would nullify two ballot initiatives targeting the state's school voucher program. The effort follows a failed compromise with the Arizona Education Association, which aimed to implement modest reforms in exchange for abandoning the initiatives, and a subsequent Republican-backed ballot referral that would block future voucher reforms.

Arizona Republican lawmakers rushed through a constitutional amendment to block reforms to the state’s school voucher program after a failed compromise with the Arizona Education Association. The proposed amendment, framed as protecting military families, includes language that would broadly prevent reforms to the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts system, according to Democrats.