The Arizona Supreme Court officially threw out a GOP-backed ballot measure that would have threatened reforms of the state's universal school voucher program.
The Aug. 18 ruling came hours after a high court decision that effectively removed from the ballot a separate measure that would have asked voters to put restrictions on the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. The rulings mean voters will not have an opportunity to weigh in on the school voucher program this fall.
Republican leaders had appealed a ruling from late July that removed House Concurrent Resolution 2048, also known as Proposition 145, from the November ballot. The measure would have stopped the state from retaking voucher funds carried over at the end of the year from the children
of military families, but several Democrats and advocacy groups accused it of being a thinly veiled attempt to protect school vouchers from any restrictions, even if voters approved them.
The measure was passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature late into the night on the last day of this year's legislative session. The text included a key provision that would have canceled any competing ballot measure in its entirety.
The Supreme Court ruling agreed with the lower court's decision, finding the ballot measure unconstitutionally combined two unrelated changes for voters to consider as one.
"So, while both affect substantive law, the provisions do not share a logical relationship or derive meaning and effect from each other," the court's decision read. "This is the type of measure the separate amendment rule is designed to prohibit."
Several public school advocates said Proposition 145 would have nullified the Protect Education Act, another ballot measure that was on track for November. The Protect Education Act would have implemented a $150,000 income cap and other restrictions on the voucher program, but it will now also be thrown off the ballot after hundreds of thousands of signatures were ruled invalid.
Both measures were at the center of a heated debate over the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which allows public dollars to go toward private school tuition and other education-related expenses. Its critics argue the program doesn't receive proper oversight, and that too many luxury goods and non-education-related items are bought with voucher dollars.
Helen Rummel covers state politics and higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Supreme Court rejects GOP-backed school voucher ballot measure
