January 17,2018 | Triadvocates
Last Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey unveiled his FY 2019 Executive Budget—a $10.1 billion spending plan that dedicates 80% of new discretionary spending to K-12 funding. Here are the highlights:
Invests a total of $400M in K-12 education, including:
- $100M for Additional Assistance, and a commitment to phase in over five years a full restoration of $371M per year in Additional Assistance with an incremental growth of $68M per year until 2023;
- $116M for inflation and enrollment growth;
- $5.1M for SFB new school construction to generate $88M in bonding financed through 25-year certification of participation (3 schools in Chandler, 1 school in Queen Creek, 1 school in Tolleson);
- $35.2M for building renewal grants to improve or repair aging school facilities, plus $10M in supplemental funding for additional grants in FY 2018;
- $34M for the second year of the 1% teacher salary increase, and moving the total increase into the base level to ensure it will be adjusted for inflation every year;
- $2.5M to expand the K-12 Computer Science pilot program that will allow schools to offer high-quality training for new computer science teachers; and
- $2M to fully fund large JTEDs (2,000+ students).
In addition to education, key initiatives in the budget include:
- $27M for the first year of a facilities bonding program at the UofA, ASU and NAU;
- $8M in flexible spending allowed at the three universities;
- $25.6M from the State Highway Fund for preventative highway maintenance;
- $24M to improve the National Guard Readiness Center near Tucson;
- $15.8M to pay for the adoption subsidy for more than 33,000 children;
- $4M to improve Oracle State Park north of Tucson;
- $2.5M to improve Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado River;
- $2.9M to hire 11 new troopers and one sergeant for the Border Strike Force in southern Arizona;
- $1.7 to provide substance abuse treatment to additional 1,560 inmates each year;
- $1.4M to expand education services to 486 more inmates each year;
- $449,900 to expand “Second Chance” centers to reduce prison recidivism, which will add 975 inmates to employment training programs each year;
- $1.4M to increase night patrols on Phoenix-area freeways, including hiring six new troopers to enhance the Wrong-Way Driver Night Watch in an effort to improve response times to wrong-way and impaired drivers;
- $1M for food banks to provide more "farm fresh" food;
- $758,000 to hire three new law-enforcement officers to work with federal agents on opioid issues; and
- Provides $15 million in tax relief to Arizona veterans who receive retirement benefits, phased-in over two years.
To download the Executive Budget Summary, click here.
While this proposal serves as a starting point for budget discussions, negotiations this year may not be as contentious as we’ve previously seen. Last week, legislative leadership, several high-ranking legislators and 54 school superintendents publicly stood in support of Gov. Ducey’s education funding proposal.
At this point, early signs indicate that this will be a speedy legislative session—some are predicting that we could wrap by April 17. There’s still plenty of time for the Legislature to derail that plan, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
While this proposal serves as a starting point for budget discussions, negotiations this year may not be as contentious as we’ve previously seen. Last week, legislative leadership, several high-ranking legislators and 54 school superintendents publicly stood in support of Gov. Ducey’s education funding proposal.
At this point, early signs indicate that this will be a speedy legislative session—some are predicting that we could wrap by April 17. There’s still plenty of time for the Legislature to derail that plan, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.