Type: News

The Countdown Begins - AZ Students Need a Permanent Fix to the School Spending Limit

Arizona voters approved into law a limit on what public schools can spend in a year based on the needs in 1980. If schools exceed the limit in a school year, as they did last year and again this year, the law allows the legislature to provide an “expenditure override” to allow districts to spend funds that have already been budgeted, with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. An expenditure override does not increase taxes and is independent of the legislature’s budget decisions during the year. 

The spending limit is antiquated and based on what school needs were like in 1980. That is evident by the fact that Arizona is hitting the spending limit this year despite Arizona school funding being the lowest in the nation. Without the expenditure override, schools would be forced to make extreme cuts before the end of this school year. It would be an economic disaster for the Arizona public school system, especially since the state funding per pupil ratio is among the lowest in the nation. Arizona’s public schools are already experiencing a teacher shortage and struggling with additional costs caused by the pandemic. 

Today’s school state funding should not be restricted to budgets created over 40 years ago.  

The Arizona legislature must: 

  1. Send a referral to the ballot to permanently address the issue.  
  1. Continue to pass a resolution to override the limit for each school year until voters address the issue.

The Problem with the Limit. Arizona’s Aggregate Expenditure Limit is outdated. It is based on education spending in the 1980s – before personal computers, the emphasis on STEM education, concerns about school safety, teacher shortages, and increased spending for special education students. Today, it threatens Arizona’s ability to make the investments needed to increase its per-student funding ranking above 48th in the nation.  

Overriding the Limit. Arizona’s constitution allows school districts only one option to avoid budget cuts – a one-time override that must be passed, not by voters, but by the state legislature, and not by a simple majority but by two-thirds of both chambers. Should this override approval not occur by the March 1 deadline, districts will be directed to reduce their budgets to keep within the limit and submit a revised budget in April.  

To make a permanent change to the limit, either the legislature would need to refer the issue to the voters or signatures would need to be collected to place the issue on the ballot at a future general election.  

 Options for a Permanent Fix to the Spending Limit. The only option to avoid districts having to cut their budgets in the middle of the school year is for the legislature to pass a one-time override. But Arizona needs a permanent fix to the current expenditure limit. Here are some options for a permanent fix: 

  • Reset the Base Year. If Arizona retains the Aggregate Spending Limit calculation, it needs to be based on what today’s public schools pay for – computers and technology, student safety, increased pay for teachers, and all other district staff. This option requires voter approval to amend the state constitution. 
  • Use the Weighted Student Count. Instead of using a student count that reflects just enrollment, a weighted student count would take into consideration the higher costs of providing education to students with special needs, small school districts, grade level, and English language learners. 
  • Expand the List of What is Exempt from the Limit. The school spending limit should not include spending linked to school or student characteristics, such as increases in the number of special education students, students with disabilities, or English language learners, or the mix between elementary and secondary students. 

Eliminate the Expenditure Limit Altogether. The K-12 aggregate spending limit was adopted at a time when major changes were being made to how the state’s public schools were to be funded. Concerns existed that these changes might result in significant tax increases. Today, we know that school spending is controlled in several ways. It increases to the per-student base-level spending formula are restricted to inflation or 2 percent, whichever is less, and are set each year by the legislature. Beginning in fiscal year 2025, these inflationary increases to base-level funding can be suspended or even reversed if inflation and employment growth do not exceed limits passed by voters or if K-12 education’s portion of the state general fund budget reaches 49 percent or more. Eliminating the expenditure limit does not mean eliminating all spending limits. 

Download the AEL one-pager PDF here

Group Homes – Our Take

You may be seeing the term “group homes” in the news this week. The topic is being discussed due to a budget shortfall to fund group home placements for children in the foster care system in Arizona.

While the executive and legislative branches haggle over process, timing, and dollars, what Children’s Action Alliance would like for them and the public to understand is that the focus should instead be on the children and the policy decisions that will best support them.

This very week, numerous children undoubtedly had something traumatic happen in their lives that caused them to be separated from their families and brought into the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS).  We owe them our very best temporary solutions to keep them safe from harm until they can be safely reunited with family, whether one or both parents or a kinship caregiver. If these are not options, a safe foster care family is the next best option. For most children, group homes should be the last and rare placement. The data tells us that group home placements, also known as congregate care, do not have the best outcomes for children.

What we really need a hearing on is Arizona’s plan to significantly reduce the number of children who are placed in group homes.

In 2018, the Family First Prevention Services Act was passed with bipartisan congressional support and signed by President Trump. One of the key pillars of the bill was providing prevention services to safely keep families together. Another key pillar was to push states to do better for children by reducing group home placements. Through this legislation, Congress put their money where their mouth is by specifically putting in place a policy that discourages the use of congregate or group care for children and placing a new emphasis on the child’s family and family foster homes. With limited exceptions, the federal government created a policy that will no longer reimburse states for children placed in group care settings for more than two weeks.

Part of the reason DCS has a budget shortfall is that they have not made the transformational changes that other states have made to move away from group home placements. It is time for this meaningful change to happen. Our children deserve better.

Legislators have proposed three bills that CAA is supporting that can make a difference. No one piece of legislation is a silver bullet solution, but we will keep seeking progress.  We encourage you to weigh in through the Request to Speak system or by contacting legislators to share the urgent need for these bills to create change that will better service children.

  • SB1305:  Temporary assistance; child-only case for related kinship caregivers (Sen Shope) Being heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, March 24 – Help children stay safely out of the foster care system by supporting grandparents and other relatives to be able to afford to care for them when their parents cannot.
  • SB1333:  Congregate care; dependent children; placement (Sen. Shamp: Carroll, Dunn, et al) Being heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, March 24 – Help build accountability for DCS to reduce reliance on group home placement for children.
  • SB1246: Child neglect; exception; financial resources (Sen. Farnsworth) Awaiting Third Read in the House. Prevent the separation of children and families solely due to poverty or lack of financial resources.

Learn more about this issue:

Proposed Cuts to School Meals Put Arizona Kids at Risk

Each day, millions of students fuel their minds and bodies with good, nutritious meals at their schools. School meals have proven to support children’s health and development while improving test scores, attendance, and behavior. However, access to school meals for thousands of children in Arizona is at risk.  

Congressional proposals threaten $12 billion in cuts to school breakfast and lunch meals, and the House Education and Workforce Committee, which has jurisdiction over school meals, has been directed to cut funding for programs within its jurisdiction by $330 billion. The proposals would substantially decrease the number of schools eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and make it more difficult for eligible families to apply for free or reduced-price school meals at non-CEP schools. The CEP allows high-need schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students.  

During the 2023–2024 school year, more than 23 million children attending schools in high-poverty areas had access to healthy school meals at no charge through CEP. Program adoption has grown year after year, creating more operational efficiencies for schools and keeping more students fed, all the while reducing stigma and lunch shaming in the cafeteria.  The proposals would force more than 24,000 schools nationwide, serving more than 12 million children, to drop CEP. The proposed cuts would reduce students’ access to nutritious school meals and raise families’ grocery bills while imposing unnecessary and burdensome paperwork requirements on schools.  

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released state-by-state fact sheets detailing how proposed cuts to the CEP would worsen childhood hunger, hurt struggling families, and create unnecessary burdens for schools and school districts.  The proposed cuts impact 366 schools in Arizona and 148,062 children. All children must continue to have access to nutritious school breakfasts and lunches for their health and learning.  

To read more about the CEP and the schools in Arizona that would be impacted, please review the FRAC and CBPP’s Arizona CEP Fact Sheet.  

Kids Need Health Insurance

Every child should have access to health care. Being able to see a health care provider for preventative health care and to treat illness is essential to the ability of a child to thrive. Yet, Arizona has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the United States.

That’s just one reason why it is important to defend Medicaid, which is AHCCCS in Arizona. At the federal level, Congress is targeting budget proposals that would devastate AHCCCS and Arizona’s health care system. Especially at this time when families are already struggling to afford a roof over their head and a trip to the grocery store, our federal lawmakers should protect, not cut essential health services.

Read about the state of children’s access to health care in our 2024 Kids Count Data Book and in the snapshot included below.

To stay informed, join Children’s Action Alliance and Prevent Child Abuse Arizona for our joint briefing on the latest about state legislation and federal proposals impacting children and families, including AHCCCS/Medicaid, SNAP nutrition assistance, and more.

RSVP below for the webinar, which is taking place on Wednesday, March 19 at 3 PM.

Click here for the snapshot.

Click here to RSVP for the webinar.

Congressional Proposal Would Put 923,400 Children, Seniors, and Arizonans with Disabilities at Risk of Hunger

923,400 people in Arizona who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could be at risk of going hungry if Congress moves forward with a plan to cut $230 billion or more from the program over nearly 10 years. The specific details of the cuts are not public yet, but some Congressional leaders are calling for states to be required to pay a portion of Arizonan’s SNAP food benefits for the first time. Congress should reject this proposal and protect SNAP from harmful budget cuts.

To fund a portion of SNAP food benefits, Arizona would need to raise revenue, cut funding for other state-funded programs and services, cut SNAP benefit levels, restrict program eligibility, or some combination of these – all options that would cost Arizona more or take food assistance away from Arizonans. This proposal comes as Arizona cut programs and delayed costs, among other budget gimmicks, to resolve a $1.7 billion budget shortfall last summer. While Arizona’s current budget outlook is not in the red, it’s dangerously close.

Congressional leaders have not said how much they would force states to pay of SNAP food benefit costs. But if they create a new state match of 50% of SNAP benefits, it would cost Arizona about $100 million in 2026; a 25% match requirement would cost Arizona $501 million. It would be the first time that the federal government did not fully fund the cost of food benefits, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Congressional members are pushing deep federal spending cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other vital services to “offset” the costs of extending and expanding tax cuts for the wealthy. Their tax cuts for households with incomes in the top 1 percent alone would cost roughly $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Forcing states to help pay SNAP benefits would let federal policymakers enact unpopular cuts while making someone else — state policymakers — decide which participants lose benefits.

“Listen to families. Every time a mom or dad goes to the grocery store, they are paying more for less,” said January Contreras, Executive Director of Children’s Action Alliance. “Our congressional delegation needs to hold the line on good policy that keeps children and seniors from going hungry and brings our tax dollars back into our local economy.”

“The prospect of this radical and sudden cost shift comes at a time when the Arizona budget is already strained,” said Geraldine Miranda. Economic Policy Analyst for the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. “As state legislators negotiate to work key tax and spending priorities into a balanced budget for next fiscal year, even a small new SNAP matching requirement would force wrenching trade-offs between letting more children going hungry and funding other important public services, such as education and public safety.”

If Arizona were required to match even 10% of SNAP benefit costs, the $200 million price to ensure families don’t lose food assistance would be equivalent to eliminating the child care waiting list for the final 6 months of the current budget. Arizona could pass along some of the cost to counties and cities, either directly or indirectly.

In Arizona, more than 68% of participating families have children, and almost 29% of participating families include seniors or adults with disabilities. Research shows SNAP reduces food insecurity and is linked to improved health, education, and economic outcomes and to lower medical costs for participants.

SNAP benefits are spent at more than 4,600 grocery stores in the state. Every $1 in additional spending on SNAP benefits in a weak economy generates $1.54 in economic activity when households use their benefits to shop at local businesses in their communities.

February: A Month of Advocacy for Early Childhood Policies

Legislative District 12 constituents and CAA meeting with Senator Epstein (D).

February is the shortest month, but for Children’s Action Alliance (CAA), it was a long and important month of advocating for Arizonans. CAA had presence at both the Arizona State Capitol and on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. promoting solutions that are needed and matter to young children and families in Arizona. Through our conversations with state and federal lawmakers, the consistent messaging was that we needed more public investment in child care and early learning so our youngest Arizonans can thrive.

 

Early Childhood Day

Legislative District 4 constituents and early childhood leaders, including KinderCare, First Things First, and CAA, meeting with Senator Werner(R).

On February 17th, CAA joined the Arizona Early Childhood Alliance (AZECA), along with partners, to meet with state legislators to promote legislation that decreased the child care costs for families, increased access to child care, and addressed the shortage of early childhood educators. Specifically, CAA discussed important solutions that helped families through:

  • HB 2643 Appropriation, Child Care
    • The bill appropriates a crucial $120 million from the state General Fund to the Department of Economic Security (DES) for child care assistance.
    • DES implemented a waiting list for most families applying to the Child Care Assistance Program on August 1, 2024, due to increased demand and limited funding. As of 02/28/2025, there are 1,587 families and 2,607 children on the waiting list.
    • As the appropriation bill never received a hearing in its chamber of origin, Governor Hobbs included a $112.4 million on-going appropriation from the state General Fund for the Child Care Assistance Program in her Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Executive Budget. This means that this will still be a priority discussion item during budget negotiations to help alleviate some of the waiting list.
  • HB 2778 Luxury Tax; Nicotine; Vapor; Products
    • The bill imposes a luxury tax on nicotine and vapor products in the same manner as other tobacco products. This is important as the bill directs tax revenue from nicotine and vapor products to be deposited for the Early Childhood Development and Health Board, also known as First Things First (60%), and the state General Fund (40%), which increases state revenue for important programs.
    • First Things First is Arizona’s only public funding source dedicated exclusively to early childhood. On November 7, 2006, Arizonans made a historic decision on behalf of our state’s young children by passing Proposition 203, a citizen’s initiative to fund quality early childhood development and health programs for children, birth to age 5, before kindergarten. Voters backed that commitment with an 80-cent per pack increase on tobacco products. Given the shift away from tobacco product purchases in recent years, First Things First revenue has declined. The bill is an extension of the voter initiative given the innovation of these newer products in recent years.
    • With the decline in revenue, First Things First has had to limit the number of programs, offerings, and financial assistance for early childhood programs, like their Quality First Scholarships, that help low-income families afford quality early care and education for their young children
    • Unfortunately, this bill also did not get a hearing in its chamber of origin- leaving early childhood advocates frustrated at the lack of support from our state lawmakers on common sense solutions that are already adapted in over 30 states.

As the legislative session is far from being over, CAA will continue to advocate for these state level policies that increase funding for child care and early learning programs.

NAEYC Public Policy Forum

Senator Gallego with early childhood leaders

CAA’s Director of Early Learning and Education, Kyrstyn Paulat, attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) 2025 Public Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. February 23rd-25th. NAEYC represents more than 50,000 early childhood educators that are committed to promoting high-quality early childhood education for young children. CAA was a member of the Arizona core team that included also NAEYC’s Arizona affiliates, Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children (AZAEYC), along with their southern chapter (SAZAEYC), as well as First Things First, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. On February 25th, Arizona’s core team attended visits with seven out of the nine Congressional Offices, and both U.S. Senate Offices. Specifically, the Arizona team emphasized that Congress should:

  • Protect and prioritize new investments in key federal child care and early learning programs that support educators, families and young children, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in both the FY25 and FY26 appropriations bills;
  • Oppose cuts to these programs, and other programs families with young children and early educators rely on, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP);
  • Prioritize tax approaches that support families with young children to afford child care, like the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and making the tax credit fully refundable.
AZAEYC’s Albert Murrieta, SAZAEYC’s Diana Hill, and CAA’s Kyrstyn Paulat meeting with Representative Ciscomani (R).

Our meetings further reinforced the importance of federal funding to our state and how cuts to these programs would be harmful to our children, families, and communities. Although the House passed the budget resolution last week, there are many House Republicans, like Representative Ciscomani, that are opposed to large cuts to important programs, like Medicaid, and know the devasting effects these would have on their communities. The budget plan does not directly impose specific cuts, but it does lay out guidelines on how to offset the tax reforms, such as directing the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to cut at least $880 billion over 10 years.

The passing of the budget resolution was the first step in a very long process of budget reconciliation. The Arizona team communicated in all meetings how vital these federal programs and funding are to our state as Arizona depends more on federal funds than most states. Federal funds make up 44% of Arizona’s revenues, above the national average of 32%. Specifically, our team stated that 74% of that federal funding is Medicaid and in early childhood, Medicaid covers more than half of Arizona’s births, and roughly 36% of children. In rural Arizona, even more children rely on Medicaid, as more than 50% of the population of children are insured through the public health insurance.

Looking Forward

The state and federal government must expand its support for the early care and education sector, because investing in our children means investing in the future of our society. As we are getting prepared for a long uphill battle, please know your stories and experiences are so important in shaping these policy decisions.

Please contact your elected officials to urge them to prioritize early childhood policies, because an investment in early learning and child care is essential for the well-being of Arizona’s children, their education and health, and our future.

Building the Future Together: Meet Our New Team Members!

We are thrilled to announce our newest team members: Jennifer J. Burns, Lori Goodspeed, and Nathan von Gnechten. 

Jennifer serves Children’s Action Alliance as our Director of Government Relations and Health Policy. Jennifer drives the health policy agenda and also provides leadership in our work with policymakers.

Lori joins Children’s Action Alliance as our new Youth and Family Advocacy Coordinator. In this role, Lori works to strengthen youth and family engagement, including kinship caregivers and youth who’ve experienced the foster care system.

Nathan serves as an Economic Policy Analyst at the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. In this role, Nathan provides research and analysis to advance budget and policy decisions that support the well-being of communities across Arizona.

We are excited to welcome these new team members to help carry out our mission to the children, families, and people of Arizona.

AHCCCS and KidsCare are Essential in Rural Arizona

Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid program, and KidsCare, Arizona’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), are key to the health of children and families. A  new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families  makes this clear, especially the role that Medicaid and CHIP have in small towns and rural counties in Arizona.

The report reveals important regional trends regarding health insurance coverage. Children and adults in rural areas often have higher rates of being uninsured. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, rural areas like La Paz, Apache, Navajo, and Gila County had the highest percentages of children without health insurance in Arizona. This shows that public health insurance options are important to all Arizonans, and that is especially true in rural areas.

Read more about the importance of Medicaid and CHIP for children and adults in Arizona's small towns and rural counties in this new Georgetown University CCF report.

The 2025 Legislative Session

As we kick off 2025 and a new legislative session, it’s the perfect time to think about the kind of Arizona we all want – one where children and their families can keep a roof over their head, can stay well or get well through health insurance, have enough to eat, are safe, and have access to a strong education starting with affordable child care and early learning. What we know is the ability of families to meet these needs for children isn’t just essential to them, it’s essential to the future of Arizona. We can build that Arizona.

Today is opening day at the Arizona State Legislature as well as the State of the State address by Governor Hobbs. Many legislative bills are already filed, and both executive and legislative budget proposals will soon be unveiled. For 37 years, Children’s Action Alliance has been a staunch advocate and watchdog for children at the State Capitol. We enter 2025 with this same commitment. We will keep you informed of our policy priorities and of policy and budget proposals that hurt or help children and families. We hope your commitment is to make your voice heard alongside us.

Together, we can bring change that supports the safety and success of children in Arizona.

Click here to view a snapshot of our 2025 Legislative Agenda.