Some Arizona lawmakers upset with lack of special session
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Lawmakers who have been clamoring for a special session on education funding before the year ends have been upset with Gov. Doug Ducey's refusal to call one.
Yes, but: Those legislators have the option of simply calling themselves back to the Capitol.
- If the governor does it, the special session will be limited to the specific subjects he chooses, whereas if the legislature calls the session, lawmakers can introduce bills on anything they want.
State of play: With the support of at least two-thirds of each legislative chamber, lawmakers can call a special session without the governor's consent.
- The 20 senators and 40 House representatives needed for this is the same number of votes needed to raise or suspend the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL) for K-12 district schools.
- Rep. Michelle Udall and other supporters say they have enough votes to raise the AEL for the 2022-23 school year.
The other side: Ducey has resisted calls for a special session on AEL without including other issues, which his chief of staff told Capitol Media Services could include border security and election law changes.
Why it's important: If lawmakers wait until the legislative session to deal with the AEL, it could create uncertainty for school districts that won't know whether they'll have to make budget cuts at the end of the academic year.
The intrigue: Democrats want a special session on AEL, but support for calling themselves back to the Capitol isn't unanimous.
- Rep. Jennifer Pawlik, a Chandler Democrat, tells Axios that she probably wouldn't support a legislatively called special session.
- Rep. Reginald Bolding and Sen. Rebecca Rios, the Democratic leaders in the legislature, say they're willing to call themselves back to the Capitol if that's what it takes.
The bottom line: Senate President Karen Fann tells Axios that her understanding is the votes aren't there for the legislature to call itself in unless other "concessions" are included.
- House Speaker Rusty Bowers says he's willing to come in for AEL and Prop. 400, but is hesitant to open the door to "every extreme election bill, social issue bill, etc." that some lawmakers want.