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School choice explodes in Arizona!

After passing a corporate tax credit for disadvantaged children in our home base of Arizona earlier this year, we thought we’d had a great run this year in the Grand Canyon State.   

But we got signals from the Legislature that more was possible.  So we pushed.  And here’s what we’ve achieved:

Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano allowed an increase to the corporate tax credit of $5 million, along with 20%-per-year growth, to pass into law without her signature. 

Napolitano also had the opportunity to give choice scholarships to disabled children (along the lines of the McKay program) and–in a first-of-its-kind program–give foster children the opportunity to select better schools. 

Before you read any further, you need to be sitting down.           

Unlike the tax credit, the governor did not send those two bills over to the Secretary of State to go on the books without her signature. 

She signed them into law.  In the process, she became the first Democrat governor to sign new voucher legislation into law. 

Lest we forget, this is the same governor who issued three vetoes in January on various tax credit programs (two of them within 24 hours of each other).  And that’s after her veto last year.  Which makes this latest development all the more stunning. 

We heartily commend Gov. Janet Napolitano for allowing the corporate tax credit increase and signing these new programs into law.  Arizona parents just got more opportunities to choose better options for their children.   

In the meantime, it’s time to gear up for battle.  The two new scholarship programs combined cost $5 million.  That’s around 0.13% (yes, slightly more than a tenth of a percent) of $3.8 billion in eduspending. But since any school choice program is too big, the unions have (predictably) made it clear they’re going to sue. 

No problem–we’ve been there before.  See you in court!