SB 26 – Public Safety
Modifies several provisions related to public safety, including providing taxpayers with the ability to obtain injunctive relief if a local government decreases its police department’s budget by a prescribed amount and creating additional protections for law enforcement officers.
Additionally, this bill modifies provisions related to jail time credit for criminals prior to conviction and allows a defendant’s behavior during that same period to be considered in sentencing proceedings.
SB 49 – Public Safety
Modifies several provisions related to public safety, including establishing new watercraft and waterway regulations and eliminating safety inspections for new vehicles.
SB 53 – Public Safety
The Arizona House and Senate passed a final version of the K-12 budget bill after settling previous policy differences that arose last week.
Last Friday, lawmakers in the House voted down Sen. Paul Boyer s proposed expansion of the state’s school voucher program known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account. Instead it adopted a provision for a statewide civics education curriculum.
On Wednesday, Boyer introduced a new amendment that got rid of that provision and reintroduced changes to the school voucher program. It’s not quite the expansion he was hoping for, but it would allow students who receive free or reduced lunch and live in the boundaries of a D- or F-rated school to qualify for the program without spending time at a public school.
A bill that indirectly provides state funding for private schools and home schools is viewed as a victory for parent choice by some and potential cover for bad actors by others.
The bill, which on Wednesday was still waiting for Gov. Mike Parson s signature, creates what are called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. It offers $50 million in tax credits for donations to not-for-profit organizations that provide scholarships for student tuition to private schools and religious schools or costs for home schools. The scholarships can be used by students in any town with a population over 30,000.
In the Senate, Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, voted in favor. In the House vote, Republicans Chuck Basye, Rocheport; Cheri Reisch, Hallsville; and Sara Walsh, Ashland, voted in favor of the bill. State Rep. Martha Stevens, D-Columbia, voted against it. The House vote happened before the election of Democratic State Rep. David Tyson Smith, of Columbia.
Divided Arizona House panel approves big school voucher bill fox10phoenix.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fox10phoenix.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bitterly divided House panel OKs big school voucher bill
BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
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PHOENIX (AP) A bitterly divided Arizona House committee voted Wednesday to advance a massive expansion of the state’s school voucher program just over two years after voters overwhelmingly rejected universal school vouchers.
Republicans called the measure already passed by the full Senate a lifeline for 600,000 low-income students who would become entitled to state funding for private school tuition. Minority Democrats argued it would siphon money from already-underfunded public schools and go against the will of voters who rejected the larger expansion in 2018.
Testimony was equally split, with members of a grassroots group who succeeded in putting the 2017 expansion law on the ballot saying the proposal was a special interest giveaway at the expense of public schools and backers noting that public school closures caused by the pandemic made it even more important t