Democrats eye ESA reforms and more with new majorities
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Incoming House Speaker Oscar De Los Santos (D-Phoenix) speaks to reporters Friday at the Capitol. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
Democratic lawmakers are making big plans to capitalize on their majority in the upcoming legislative session, after decades of watching Republicans thwart their proposals.
Why it matters: With Democrats in control of the House, Senate and governor's office for the first time in decades, they can enact liberal laws on education, labor relations, housing, gun control, water, consumer protection and more.
The latest: Legislative Democrats on Friday selected Rep. Oscar De Los Santos (D-Phoenix) as the new House speaker and Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) as next Senate president.
- With new leadership in place, legislative Democrats will have a much clearer vision for their plans in January when the session starts, Sen.-elect Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix) told Axios on Thursday.
What they're saying: De Los Santos told reporters after his election as speaker on Friday that Democrats will make the election "a victory for affordability, a victory for health care, a victory for public education, a victory for working families and middle-class families who are struggling to get by."
Education: Major reforms to Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program will be a top priority for Democratic lawmakers. De Los Santos told reporters Friday that they want to "end the waste and the fraud and the abuse," which Gov. Katie Hobbs has touted as a major goal as well.
- The Protect Education Act, which didn't get enough signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot, will provide a starting point, said Rep. Nancy Gutierrez (D-Tucson), the new House majority leader.
- And Democrats eye a renewal of Proposition 123, an expired measure that increases state land trust funding to schools, which voters must approve. Republicans were unable to agree on a renewal plan over the past two years.
Labor: In an election night speech at an Arizona Democratic Party event, Attorney General Kris Mayes called for the state to pass a prevailing wage law and to "make Arizona a right-to-organize state."
- The latter would mean asking voters to repeal the Arizona Constitution's 80-year-old right-to-work provision.
- Brendan Walsh of the labor group Worker Power tells Axios that unions want to enact heat protections for people who work outdoors and protect consumers from price gouging, among other proposals.
Housing: De Los Santos last session backed legislation to restrict corporations and investors' ability to buy single-family homes, and indicated to Capitol Media Services that he's still interested in the idea.
Data centers: Proposed regulations and restrictions will almost certainly come up next session. Mayes and other Democrats have called for a moratorium on new data centers, which Hobbs rejected during her reelection campaign.
Gun safety: Gutierrez tells Axios she plans to reintroduce a proposal known as Christian's Law, which would require secure storage of firearms to keep minors from accessing them.
The other side: "We understand that the voters have made their decision. Our principles have not changed," outgoing Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear), who'll be the new House minority leader, told reporters Friday.
- "We want to make sure that we're standing against tax increases, that we're fighting and standing for parental rights."