A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing limit school vouchers.
PHOENIX — A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature and won approval on Wednesday is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing to put limits on an expansion of a school voucher program that they say is a drain on the state’s coffers.The Democratic governor came into office in January with plans to undo the massive explosion in the voucher program, championed by her GOP predecessor Gov.
Even as they heaped on criticism of the budget, some Democratic lawmakers still voted for elements of the package and lauded its $300 million increase in K-12 education funding and another $150 million for a fund that helps people with low-income housing, an eviction-prevention program and transitional housing.
“I have seen budgets in the past when we’ve had Republican governors,” Aguilar said. “It has always been given to Democrats in the last minute. Today, many of us Democrats helped Gov. Hobbs get elected, and I personally thought maybe this year wouldn’t be a lot different. But that is not the case. Democrats seem to be in the same boat as if we would have had a Republican governor.”
“I think we can agree that the voucher program is a drain on resources that should be directed at public education,” Hobbs said. “But I didn’t say I was going to end it. It is a goal, certainly.”
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