It’s been just over a month since new Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, was sworn into office, and his hire to run the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program has been delivering significant results for Arizona families.
Christine Accurso, the new ESA Executive Director, has been a longtime pro-life and school choice advocate in the East Valley. Her family has benefited from the ESA program for years – well before the Arizona Legislature expanded its scope in 2022. After the bill was signed into law by former-Governor Doug Ducey, Accurso singlehandedly led a grassroots army of moms and dads from around Arizona to defeat a campaign meant to refer ESA expansion to the ballot and delay the implementation of school choice and freedom for tens of thousands of children in our state.
Since coming on with the Arizona Department of Education, Accurso has been hard at work to save the expanded ESA program a second time, bringing staffing up to the levels intended by the legislature, handling the huge backlog of funding and reimbursement requests, vetting and approving new applications for the program, and ensuring that parents are receiving timely and relevant information from her office.
To that end, Accurso has been extremely diligent in sending out weekly emails to account holders, explaining what her program is working on, clarifying any previous misconceptions about ESAs, and giving updates on the number of students benefiting from school choice in Arizona. Her first email, sent January 3 (which was her inaugural day leading the program), alerted parents and guardians that there were 45,170 students receiving an ESA. In her email this week, that number was up to 46,971 – and Accurso briefed readers that the program is “receiving a minimum of 150 new applications a day.”
Accurso’s latest email also gave an update on her processing que, which is very helpful for account holders to realize the reasons behind some delays in payment processing or approval of desired resources for students. The Marketplace has a backlog of 4,578; Direct Pay of 4,032; Reimbursements of 24,409; and pre-paid debit cards of 63,125 – and there are 4,000 orders coming in each day to be processed. These numbers are significantly down from the original backlog Accurso inherited from the previous administration (and shared in her January 13 email), which was 171,575 orders.
The ESA Executive Director has also been planning and executing the formation of a parent advisory committee – an action she forecasted in her January 13 email to account holders. Accurso announced in her January 25 email that the application process for this committee was open – with 15 to 30 members selected to serve in a volunteer capacity. There were 140 applications received by the ESA Program for this committee, per Accurso’s February 8 email, and she informed interested readers that “we will be finalizing the candidates and communicating with them soon.”
The February 8 email to account holders was lengthy, which Accurso apologized for, but it was filled with necessary information. Accurso explained that she had “spent her first month as the executive director adjusting our office’s approach to everything in the ESA program to align with the state law.” She clarified the law and requirements for an “individual vs facility/business offering tutoring or teaching services,” and she gave an update on “accessing your ESA funds.” She gave a lot of information on the four ways account holders could access their ESA funds, including some new directives on using the pre-paid debit card. Accurso warned that her office “does plan to cancel the use of debit cards for all accounts that have not submitted the appropriate receipts by the (required) deadline or have purchased unallowable items with the card (For example: Chevron, Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell and Dillard’s).”
Accurso realizes that one of the deadliest attacks toward ESA programs is the lack of oversight by those entrusted to distribute and steward the funds, and the propensity of some account holders to misuse funds that have been earmarked for specific educational purposes – whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is why she appears to be laser focused on bringing the Arizona ESA program into conformity with the law and the original intent of the legislature. Her weekly updates will continue to provide much-needed guiderails for parents and guardians as the program moves forward under the watchful eyes of Superintendent Horne.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has made no secret of her desire to dismantle the state’s school choice benefits for tens of thousands of children and their families, and this weekend, she was challenged on her desires by Fox News Sunday host, Shannon Bream, during an exclusive interview leading up to the Super Bowl in Glendale.
During the interview, Bream asked the governor why all students shouldn’t have a chance to have the educational opportunities that she had growing up – a reference to Hobbs’ high school graduation from Seton Catholic Preparatory. Governor Hobbs appeared to embrace the rhetoric of school choice proponents as she searched for justification for her positions, responding that her parents “made that choice” and that they “sacrificed a lot” to give her the chance at a private education.
Hobbs went on to say that she wants every student in Arizona to have access to high-quality public education – access that she claimed would not happen under Arizona’s historic Educational Scholarship Account (ESA) program, which was passed last year by the Arizona Legislature. Bream followed up by asking the governor if students should not have a chance to go elsewhere if their school system was failing. Hobbs’ reply was that “the schools are failing because we are failing to invest in them.”
But Governor Hobbs’ rampant claims of the ESA program bankrupting and failing Arizona schools were met with facts from several individuals. Corey DeAngelis, one of the nation’s premier “evangelists” of school choice, tweeted thanks to Shannon Bream for citing his January Wall Street Journal article, showing that Arizona’s ESA program could actually save the state more than $100 million.
And Andrew Clark, Executive Director of Yes. Every Kid. Foundation, tweeted, “The average cost for a family to homeschool is year is about: $2k per kid. Micro-schools and pods are about $5k. Private schools average $10k, charters around $12k. Public schools clock in around $15k. But sure it’s a spending problem for public schools…let’s ignore the facts…”
Governor Hobbs’ answers on school choice quickly went viral after the recorded interview went live Sunday morning, and Arizona Republicans, who are at the front lines of protecting the landmark ESA program, wasted no time in making their thoughts known.
The Arizona Senate Republicans Twitter account posted: “.@GovernorHobbs response makes absolutely zero sense, other than reinforcing why expansion of ESA school choice is so desperately needed.”
Senator Justine Wadsack tweeted, “So #HypocriteHobbs attended PRIVATE school, and her parents made “sacrifices” to put her there. Even found themselves on food stamps! Had #ESA/#SchoolChoice existed back then, her parents would have been given $7,000 to help with the cost of Katie’s education.”
Representative Quang Nguyen stated, “So if your parents afforded you this great opportunity, shouldn’t you make it possible for other parents to give their children the same opportunity you received as a child? Asking for Arizonans.”
Representative Cory McGarr disagreed with Governor Hobbs’ characterizations of district school funding, saying: “Our government schools are failing because we are supposedly starving them of resources?? 73% increase in funding since 2016… Perhaps they are failing because they focus on woke sexualization, feelings and racism and have no accountability because of politicians like this.”
Representative Matt Gress underlined the foundation of the school choice argument, writing: “.@GovernorHobbs’ parents struggled to provide her with an education THEY thought best. It’s unfortunate she wants AZ families to choose between being on food stamps or sending their kids to the school they choose. Let’s help families. Give them a choice, not push them down.”
Representative Austin Smith said, “Booed at the Phoenix Open, health nominee failed in the senate committee and called out for her hypocrisy on school choice on national Sunday show. Bad weekend for Hobbs. Is there anyone who thinks she’s actually an effective leader?”
Representative Justin Heap tweeted: “@katiehobbs is committed to ending Az’s ESA program which allows thousands of Arizona children to receive the same private school education she received. Katie Hobbs definitely believes in pulling the ladder up behind her.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Governor Katie Hobbs has been reticent to transmit her nominations for state agency heads to the state legislature, and the effort by the Arizona Senate to bring transparency to the process may not lend itself to greater cooperation by the Ninth Floor going forward.
On Thursday, the Arizona Senate Committee on Director Nominations met for its first meeting to consider two of the nominees that Governor Hobbs sent to the legislature. A.R.S. 38-211 prescribes that “the governor shall nominate and with the consent of the senate appoint such officer,” and that “the governor shall during each (legislative) session nominate a person who meets the requirements of law for such office and promptly transmit the nomination to the president of the senate.” The Senate’s constitutional responsibility to provide “consent” for Governor Hobbs’ nominees led to President Warren Petersen forming this committee to “recommend a course of action for the Senate to take on each individual.”
But Governor Hobbs has only fulfilled her constitutional responsibility to “promptly transmit” a select number of nominees – and two of them were before the Senate Committee Thursday. The first individual up for consideration was Angie Rodgers, the nominee to lead the Department of Economic Security. Rodgers has been the President and CEO for the Arizona Food Bank Network and previously served in the Napolitano administration as the governor’s Human Services Policy Advisor. Though Republicans on the committee did have concerns about how she would lead this agency, the vote to favorably recommend her to the full Senate was unanimous.
It was the second nominee considered by the committee who brought the most contention, however. Dr. Theresa Cullen, who Hobbs nominated to run the Department of Health Services, is currently the Director of the Pima County Public Health Department – a position she has held since June 1, 2020. Both Dr. Cullen and Rodgers were announced in the first round of future nominees on December 27, 2022, by then-Governor-elect Hobbs.
Arizona Republicans pointed out multiple inconsistencies in her answers throughout the afternoon. On two occasions, Senate President Petersen sharply chided her responses and served a warning about her future as a public servant, writing, “Any nominee who gets caught lying at a confirmation hearing is not fit to serve the state of Arizona. The 9th floor could learn from Napolitano. Napolitano did not appoint radical lefties as directors.”
After enough time was spent on vetting Dr. Cullen’s past (especially her leadership over the Pima County health response to the COVID-19 pandemic) and her ability to lead this Department in the future, members of the committee voted against recommending her nomination to the full Senate with a party line 3-2 vote.
Senate Republicans, who now have a decision to make about Dr. Cullen’s future employment at the Department of Health Services, had plenty to say after the hearing was complete. Senator John Kavanagh tweeted, “Her repressive covid policies when she led Pima County Health included an illegal 10pm-5am curfew.” Senator Sonny Borrelli wrote, “Why would @GovernorHobbs appoint Dr. Cullen to a critical position, such as state health director, when her testimony in committee clearly showed she makes decisions based on politics and not commonsense or data?” Senator Anthony Kern stated, “Dr. Cullen prided herself on locking down Pima County, ruining the livelihoods of her constituents while she raked in a comfortable $200,000/yr. salary.” Committee Member Janae Shamp said, “Dr. Cullen provided misleading responses and failed to accept responsibility for her record.” Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope tweeted, “I respect Dr. Cullen’s experience, but her poor judgement in Pima County reflects poorly on her – and even more poorly on Hobbs.” And Senator Wendy Rogers left no doubt with her thoughts from the hearing: “True leaders never reply, ‘I don’t know’ to tough questions. Shame on @GovernorHobbs for nominating Pima county’s MEDICAL TYRANT Dr. Theresa Cullen for State Health Director.”
Governor Katie Hobbs was also not happy after the hearing – but for different reasons than legislative Republicans. She released a statement, saying, “What we witnessed today was an exercise in political theater, and it is a shame that Arizonans have to suffer for it. Dr. Admiral Cullen has a distinguished career in medicine and public health that spans decades, and I stand by her nomination. Her dedication and vision in making our state the healthiest it can be is exactly what Arizona needs right now.”
Daniel Scarpinato, a Chief of Staff to former Governor Doug Ducey, had some valuable insight about the committee process and genesis, tweeting, “All Governors must work with the Legislature. It’s part of our process and a system taught in basic civics. The Arizona Senate gets to determine how they want to conduct the process, and I think the one they have developed is a very good one.” He went on to say that “No one can accuse this AZ Senate Committee of being a partisan exercise. Their questions are fair and appropriate. Sen. Hoffman is doing an excellent job as Chairman.”
Both Dr. Cullen’s and Rodgers’ nominations now head to the full Senate chamber for a vote on their future in the Hobbs’ administration.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s water situation isn’t getting any better, and the next decade will most likely present major challenges to people as cities and towns take additional actions to conserve water for the future. One community has felt the brunt of our state’s drought, and members of the Arizona Legislature may be poised to help bail them out.
HB2561 and SB1093, which deal with requirements for service by city water providers, both cleared legislative committees this week and are one step closer to possible votes in the respective chambers. According to the Arizona House summary, this bill “directs a municipality to provide water service through a standpipe until 2026 to up to 750 households that lack access to sufficient water if those households had previously received water service from the municipality, the municipality is reimbursed for providing water service and providing this water does not reduce water available to the municipality or the households.”
The issue stems from an action taken by the City of Scottsdale on water hauling operations to Rio Verde Foothills, an unincorporated community of approximately 2,000 homes. As the Arizona House fact sheet reports, “Scottsdale ceased providing water for hauling to Rio Verde Foothills in 2023” because the Bureau of Reclamation’s declaration of a Tier 1 shortage on the Colorado River triggered the city’s “Drought Management Plan, which required that when a Tier 1 shortage occurred, any water hauling operations would cease unless the customer could prove the hauled water was being directly supplied to a resident or business within the city’s limits.” It is estimated that about “500-700 households depend on the delivery of hauled water” in this case.
The Rio Verde Foothills’ current standing when it comes to access to water has put some families in dire straits, and many individuals and families have made desperate entreaties for help that have reached the international scene. One reporter uncovered that some residents are now paying around $1,000 a month for water, a substantial increase from $220. This story has even attracted the attention of the New York Times.
One Twitter user from Oxford, England had this comment about the New York Times piece: “I don’t care for an affluent suburb nor do I necessarily think Scottsdale Water is in the wrong here. BUT if the starting position is ‘there’s no way to help,’ that doesn’t bode well for the many other Arizonans who may find themselves without water access in the coming years.”
Enter the Arizona Legislature and the attempts to intervene in the situation. Representative Alex Kolodin was the sponsor of HB2561, and Senator John Kavanagh of SB1093. Both legislators have met with people within the Rio Verde Foothills Community, including one meeting that took place on January 29.
HB2561 passed the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water with a 6-3-0-0-1 vote. SB1093 passed the Senate Government Committee with a 5-3 vote. Both votes were mostly along party lines (Democrat Representative Travers voted “present”) – a fact that did not escape the attention of one Republican lawmaker.
In an exclusive statement to AZ Free News, Representative Austin Smith, the vice chairman of the Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee explained his reasoning for his vote to advance this legislation to the full chamber: “There was an issue in Rio Verde and the representatives of that district went right to work and brought it to our committee. I look forward to voting for more bills that go right to work for citizens who need water and conservation efforts.”
The City of Scottsdale has opposed this legislation and issued a statement regarding this matter on January 16. The Office of Communication wrote, “Rio Verde is a separate community governed by Maricopa County, not the city of Scottsdale. Scottsdale has warned and advised that it is not responsible for Rio Verde for many years, especially given the requirements of the city’s mandated drought plan. The city remains firm in that position, and confident it is on the right side of the law. Nothing in the city’s action precludes residents in Rio Verde Foothills from purchasing water from other sources. The water haulers who have previously hauled water from Scottsdale have access to water from other jurisdictions and are still offering to haul water to serve the homes in Rio Verde.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Photo radar has always been a contentious issue in Arizona with regular attempts from state legislators to remove cameras from Arizona streets and highways. This year, one powerful Republican state senator is leading the efforts to prohibit all such operations once and for all.
SB1234, sponsored by Senator Wendy Rogers, “prohibits a local authority from using a photo enforcement system to identify violators of laws or ordinances relating to excessive speed or failure to obey a traffic control device,” according to the Senate’s fact sheet for the legislation. Her bill, which was introduced last month, has twelve co-sponsors (Senators Bennett, Borrelli, Farnsworth, Gowan, Hoffman, Kaiser, Kavanagh, Kern, Kerr, Mesnard, Petersen, and Wadsack).
When asked by AZ Free News why he supported this bill, Senator Borrelli said, “Law enforcement should not be farmed out to third-party private companies.”
This week, the bill cleared the Senate Government Committee, chaired by Hoffman, with a 5-3 party line vote. Senators Rogers (vice-chairman), Farnsworth, Shamp, Wadsack, and Hoffman voted in favor of the photo radar ban; while Democrat Senators Diaz, Mendez, and Sundareshan voted in opposition.
The Arizona chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLCAZ) was in strong support of SB1234. Its Twitter account wrote, “There are many reasons to abolish photo radar, starting with questions about constitutionality….Photo radar traffic enforcement is bad policy & it should come to an end.” RLCAZ then listed multiple concerns with photo radar, including issues of the 6th Amendment, due process, 4th Amendment, and other arguments in a seven-tweet thread.
Stopping photo radar has long been a focus of Senator Rogers, who forecasted her plans to introduce this legislation last summer. Rogers said, “The photo radar industry made its home base in Arizona. And that ends next year. We’re no longer going to allow government to spy on Arizonans for profit and trample due process rights.”
After her vote in the Senate Government Committee, Senator Justine Wadsack tweeted the news, and added, “I am a proud co-sponsor.”
SB1234 was one of the “Top Freedom Bills This Week” from EZAZ. Merissa Hamilton, one of EZAZ’s co-founders, tweeted an “easy as pie” summary sheet, including the photo radar prohibition bill with one of her cheat sheets.
Hundreds signed in to oppose this legislation on the Arizona Legislature’s site. The City of Chandler, Town of Paradise Valley, AZ Chapter National Safety Council, City of Kingman, City of Mesa, League of Arizona Cities & Towns, and City of Scottsdale were among the opposition.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.