Arizona Legislature starts work on K-12 funding plan

• The plan infuses $3.5 billion into schools
• The special session comes as Ducey's top staffers have been spearheading discussions between lawmakers and education groups to resolve a 5-year-old legal battle over the state's underfunding of public district and charter schools

Lawmakers on Wednesday night began a special session to settle a long-running education-funding lawsuit with a show of pomp and a commitment to a fast-paced schedule.

After a long workday to hammer out three bills, Gov. Doug Ducey summoned lawmakers to the state Capitol to consider a proposal that would increase funding for education by $3.5 billion over the next decade. The proposal would end a five-year-long lawsuit over lawmakers' failure to provide required inflation funding increases to schools during the recession.

State House of Representatives members met in the historic House chambers in the Capitol building. It was the first time the House had done business in the 115-year-old building since 1960.

House Speaker David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, noted the historic nature of the site, reminding the 54 lawmakers (six were absent) that the room is where Arizona's Constitution was written in 1910. He also called for a moment of silence for former lawmaker Jack Brown, whose death was reported Wednesday. Brown was a Democrat from St. Johns and one of the last of the "cowboy lawmakers."

Lawmakers' schedule calls for work begins bright and early Thursday: The House and Senate appropriations committees start hearings at 8:30 a.m. to get public testimony on the bills, which staff were starting to dissect Wednesday night. This will be the only opportunity for the public to comment in person.

Those hearings will be followed by a rules committee hearing, caucus meeting and then a floor session to debate the package.

The funding plan is backed by Ducey, Republican legislative leadership and education groups. It’s unclear how many Democrats will support the plan.

The special session comes as Ducey's top staffers have led talks between Republican lawmakers and education groups to resolve the five-year legal battle over the state's underfunding of public district and charter schools. The two sides were at an impasse in August.

If approved by the Legislature and voters, the base amount the state pays per student would increase this year by $173, to about $3,600. A court ruling had called for the state to boost the base amount by about $240 per student. This would give schools an additional $249 million a year, which would be adjusted for inflation in future years.

Schools would also get an additional $50 million a year for five years, and $75 million a year for the following five years. These payments, which would not increase to account for inflation, equal about half of what the education organizations had asked for from the state Legislature to make up for the years when the state failed to fund inflation during the Great Recession.

About 60 percent of the money would come from the state land trust, with the rest being drawn from the general fund.

More details emerge on $3.5B Arizona education-funding proposal

Ducey first proposed increasing withdrawals from the state land trust to increase funding for schools. When settlement talks in the education-funding lawsuit broke down in August, Ducey and his staff stepped in to help settle the lawsuit. This most recent proposal would boost withdrawals from the land trust to 6.9 percent over 10 years, bringing schools an additional $2 billion total. That would require a public vote, which could be held in May. Current withdrawals from the trust are capped at 2.5 percent a year.

The plan proposes "triggers" that would allow the Legislature to decrease or halt the additional funding if there are annual economic downturns, according to a document distributed to state lawmakers Tuesday.

They include:

• A trigger that would allow lawmakers to withhold annual inflation adjustments to the K-12 funding formula if economic conditions are stagnant or deteriorate. Under the criteria outlined in the plan, this would have happened only six times since 1992, according to the Governor's Office.
• Another trigger that would allow the Legislature to reduce the amount of money distributed from the state's Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund if the fund posts a lower balance than in prior years. The plan calls for hiking the trust fund's distribution. Lawmakers say the trigger would help them protect the fund's principal if it earns less money.
• A third trigger that would let lawmakers stop funding K-12 inflation payments, and cut the K-12 budget, if education spending reaches 49 percent of the state budget starting in 2026, and deeper cuts if K-12 spending equals 50 percent of the overall budget. The K-12 budget currently equals 42 percent of the general fund; it has never hit 49 percent, state officials said.

Robb: Inelegant but functional ed funding deal

House Democrats have voiced concerns about the triggers, saying they appear to be designed to take money away from the schools. Supporters of the plan said the triggers would protect the general fund during difficult economic times.

The document states the plan hinges on “voter approval of changes to the state Constitution,” but does not specify what the ballot language would say. According to the document, if voters do not approve all of the proposed changes, the entire deal fails.

School officials, who have gone on record supporting the proposal, have said the plan is only the start of a longer-term discussion about K-12 financing and cautioned more needs to be done once the lawsuit is settled.​

GOP plan would give Arizona schools $3.5 billion increase

Follow the reporter on Twitter: @yvonnewingett and reach her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.