In a special op-ed for AZ Mirror, Beth Lewis explains why opting into the federal voucher program opens the door for more waste and fraud.
Are you tired of hearing reports about millions misspent on voucher-funded Disneyland trips, appliances and lingerie? Well, if Arizona Republicans at the state legislature have their way, get ready for a whole lot more stories of voucher waste, fraud and abuse.
This week, Republican lawmakers pushed through an irresponsible, non-negotiated budget (which Gov. Katie Hobbs promptly vetoed) that would have forced Arizona to opt in to Trump’s federal voucher scheme. This nationalized voucher scheme would trigger a massive transfer of wealth to Arizona’s private schools — the same ones already cashing in on our state’s $1 billion universal ESA voucher program — without any guardrails or protections against fraud or discrimination.
Opting in would double down on the massively inequitable, two-tiered system of haves and have-nots that’s been pushed into Arizona with universal ESA vouchers, which have become a “handout for the wealthy.” It incentivizes disinvestment in — and therefore the dismantling of — public schools, which serve over 90% of Arizona students.
And as U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, who recently introduced a bill to rescind the federal voucher scam, points out, this program is set to irresponsibly explode the federal debt by $25 to $55 billion a year.
Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility? Not anymore.
Arizona’s GOP lawmakers tried and failed last month to force through federal vouchers on a party-line vote, irresponsibly attempting to pre-enroll the state in the program before the federal government has even published regulatory guidelines. Thankfully, Gov. Hobbs saw through the scam and vetoed it outright, saying, “We have seen what happens when these types of [voucher] programs lack accountability, transparency, and oversight. I hope the administration ensures any federal school choice program will have the much-needed guardrails Arizona’s ESA program lacks.”
We won’t hold our breath waiting for the Trump administration to ensure the program doesn’t just serve as a tax shelter for the uber-rich — but we do know that these guidelines won’t be issued until after our state budget has passed and the legislative session has concluded.
That makes opting in this year not just reckless behavior, but downright political malpractice.
We won’t know whether the federal voucher program will allow states to apply guardrails to these tax credit vouchers, or whether spending on luxury items will be prohibited. We won’t know if the program will be stacked onto state vouchers, allowing private schools to jack up costs and price-gouge families. We won’t know whether the state can direct these dollars to low-income students or students with disabilities (doubtful) or whether there will be any benefits to public schools (even more doubtful given the anti-public-school lobbying groups pushing for this).
What we do know is Republicans are trying to trap our state into this scheme by burying it in the state budget process, where it simply doesn’t belong. They are trying to pretend that opting in to the voucher scheme is somehow required as part of conforming to the federal tax code, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Arizonans deserve a responsibly crafted budget that doesn’t contain poison pill voucher programs that are wide open for waste, fraud and abuse. Arizonans deserve politicians who are honest with the people and who prioritize proper funding of our public schools so students are equipped for their future. And Arizonans deserve leaders who will stand strong against federal tax cuts that benefit the wealthy when Arizonans are struggling to make ends meet.