The Arizona Legislature & How it Impacts Public Education
Public education was paramount to our state’s founders. Article XI of the Constitution lays out the Legislature’s obligation to fund public education:
“The legislature shall enact such laws as shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a general and uniform public school system.”
What is the Arizona Legislature?
Arizona’s Legislature is established by the Arizona Constitution, which specifies two chambers, the Arizona Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives. The Arizona Legislature first convened in March 1912, a little more than a month after Arizona attained statehood. Initially, the Legislature only met once every other year until 1950. Now the Legislature meets every year.
The Legislature is the main body for proposing and passing bills into law, although Arizona’s constitution maintains strong avenues for citizen involvement in the legislative process through initiatives and referrals.
Most importantly, the Legislature sets the budget for the state. This encompasses critical public services like public schools, public safety, roads, transportation, health care, prisons, and public universities.
The decisions made at the state legislature impact our daily lives much more specifically than those made at the federal level. In 2023, the legislature attempted to pass multiple bills that would have banned books, silenced teachers, attacked LGBTQ+ youth, and limited teachers’ ability to teach. Governor Hobbs vetoed all of these bills, stopping them from becoming law. In 2022, the Legislature and Governor Ducey passed universal ESA vouchers into law; by 2024, these vouchers are projected to drain nearly $1 billion from the state general fund, diverting desperately needed resources from local public schools and other public goods and services. It’s critical that Arizonans stay tuned to what’s happening at the Capitol.
Current Legislative Makeup
Arizona currently has 30 legislative districts, each represented by one Senator and two Representatives. The majority party elects the leadership for each chamber, including the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. The majority party also creates committee assignments, which translates to the ability to control legislative committees and thus decide which bills are heard. The minority party also elects its own leadership, but as it lacks the ability to make decisions on committee structure or bill assignments, this leadership holds less power.
As of today, the Republican Party has maintained control of the Arizona Legislature for over 50 years. This means that, for this duration, it has wielded the power to control committees and bill hearings, and therefore all legislation, legislative agendas and policies.
Based on 2023 representation
How Can Citizens Track What the Legislature is Doing?
Arizonans can access information about proposed laws and watch videos of debates on issues that matter to them at azleg.gov. We can find the legislative district we reside in HERE and find our Senators and Representatives HERE, along with their phone and email information.
It is important to make our voices heard when it comes to bills that we support or disagree with. Information on The Request to Speak (RTS) system, an easy-to-use online tool that allows Arizonans to give feedback to lawmakers on bills, is available HERE.
We highly recommend signing up for Save Our Schools Arizona’s weekly emails, which provide robust and easy-to-navigate information about proposed bills relating to education. You can sign up at sosarizona.org/email-updates.
Legislative Calendars
The Arizona Legislature convenes according to rules laid out in the Arizona Constitution in Article IV, Part 2, Section 3:
“The sessions of the legislature shall be held annually at the capitol of the state, and shall commence on the second Monday of January of each year. The governor may call a special session, whenever in his (sic) judgment it is advisable. In calling a special session, the governor shall specify the subjects to be considered, and at such special session no laws shall be enacted except such as relate to the subjects mentioned in the call.”
Sample Legislative Deadlines (2023 Legislative Session)
Much of Arizona’s legislative process is set by rules authored by the majority party. Though rules may vary slightly from chamber to chamber or session to session, the rules that govern bill deadline dates are fairly constant. This sample taken from the 2023 Legislative session illustrates how the multiple deadlines of the legislative calendar impact a bill:
Jan. 9
Jan. 12
Jan. 30
Feb. 6
2023
Legislative Session
begins
Last day to
introduce House bills before the
7-bill limit begins
Senate
bill introduction
deadline
House
bill introduction
deadline
Feb. 17
Feb. 20
Mar. 24
Apr. 18
Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its originating house
Crossover Week begins (most committee hearings are suspended)
Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its crossover house
100th Day of Session (the stated end goal; can be changed)
If a bill fails to meet any of these deadlines, it cannot pass into law. However, lawmakers can also use parliamentary methods to resurrect bill contents, such as “strike everything” amendments which replace the contents of a bill with entirely new language. This is why no bill is ever truly dead until the Legislature adjourns for the session, a maneuver also known as “sine die.”
Arizona’s legislature was envisioned as a “citizen legislature” with many lawmakers holding other jobs and sessions spanning only a portion of the year. But in reality, serving in the Legislature is a year-round job. Legislative sessions are meant to end after 100 days, but are frequently extended, and today, lawmakers meet with constituents and work on legislation year-round. The fact that nearly all lawmakers also hold other jobs can also now mean multiple conflicts of interest when it comes to a lawmaker’s votes. Legislative rule, state law and the Constitution are notoriously lax on governing those conflicts.
Jan. 9
2023
Legislative Session
begins
Jan. 12
Last day to
introduce House bills before the
7-bill limit begins
Jan. 30
Senate
bill introduction
deadline
Feb. 6
House
bill introduction
deadline
Feb. 17
Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its originating house
Feb. 20
Crossover Week begins (most committee hearings are suspended)
Mar. 24
Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its crossover house
Apr. 18
100th Day of Session (the stated end goal; can be changed)
If a bill fails to meet any of these deadlines, it cannot pass into law. However, lawmakers can also use parliamentary methods to resurrect bill contents, such as “strike everything” amendments which replace the contents of a bill with entirely new language. This is why no bill is ever truly dead until the Legislature adjourns for the session, a maneuver also known as “sine die.”
Arizona’s legislature was envisioned as a “citizen legislature” with many lawmakers holding other jobs and sessions spanning only a portion of the year. But in reality, serving in the Legislature is a year-round job. Legislative sessions are meant to end after 100 days, but are frequently extended, and today, lawmakers meet with constituents and work on legislation year-round. The fact that nearly all lawmakers also hold other jobs can also now mean multiple conflicts of interest when it comes to a lawmaker’s votes. Legislative rule, state law and the Constitution are notoriously lax on governing those conflicts.
Lobbyists
Lobbyists are people who petition lawmakers to advance or defeat various policies, agendas and bills. They can work for government agencies, private businesses or nonprofits, for compensation or as volunteers, or they can represent themselves and other individuals.
Lobbyists in Arizona are minimally regulated by the Arizona Secretary of State and must comply with various laws and rules regarding their relationships with and contributions or gifts to sitting lawmakers. Generally, lobbyists are supposed to register, but some organizations have found ways to skirt these regulations, such as by having their lobbyists engage in “education” efforts. Arizona’s lobbying restrictions are some of the weakest in the nation, and further attempts to weaken them are introduced every year, often by the lawmakers with the closest ties to powerful and well-monied lobbying organizations.
Numerous organizations within and outside of Arizona employ both registered and unregistered lobbyists to meet with lawmakers, shape policy, and drive the privatization of our public education system. Just a few such organizations include the Goldwater Institute, Great Leaders Strong Schools, Yes Every Kid, Center for Arizona Policy, American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity, State Policy Network, American Legislative Exchange Council, and others. These well-funded groups have large networks of wealthy donors, generally from out of state, who work to advance an extreme agenda of dismantling popular and effective public institutions in order to undermine the credibility of government.
It is important to know that lobbyists represent every degree on the political spectrum and almost every side of every issue. But many groups have deep enough pockets and significant enough access to lawmakers to make advancing pro-public education policies difficult, and stopping anti-public education policies almost impossible. This is why it’s important to understand the relationships our lawmakers have with lobbying groups — so we can elect leaders who truly oppose privatization and support public education.
With Power Comes Responsibility
As Article II, Section 2 of the Arizona Constitution specifies, “All political power is inherent in the people.” Arizona’s government is designed for citizen participation. If Arizonans do not involve themselves in their own government by staying informed, monitoring legislation, regularly interacting with their state lawmakers, and making their voices heard, we abdicate our power to others, who often do not have our best interests in mind. It is up to us to use our political power responsibly and engage with the process of governing ourselves. Government is us.
