Legislation to let every child attend private and parochial schools on the public dime is on life support, and possibly dead-- at least in its current form.
Vouchers were originally approved in 2011 for children with special needs. Lawmakers have slowly added different groups to the plan.
The most recent proposal would make vouchers available to every public school student in the state by 2020.
Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa, is championing the measure, saying it should not be seen as diverting money from public schools. But he admitted Monday that he does not have enough votes.
Among the opposition is Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek. She says her issue is timing: the push comes as voters are being asked to take $3.5 billion out of a land trust account to boost funding for public schools. Carter said approving vouchers ahead of that May 17 vote undermines the message being sent to voters.
"The top priority needs to be Proposition 123. All efforts need to be on making sure that passes because it delivers immediate resources to our schools who are in desperate need of those resources," Carter said.
Gov. Doug Ducey has not taken a position on the voucher measure. But press aide Daniel Scarpinato said his boss is concerned about anything that diverts attention from-- or potentially takes votes away-- from his pet project.
"The governor has made it very clear that the thing he's focused on every day is the effort that's on the ballot. It's his top priority. He knows there's other issues being considered. But every day when he wakes up his thoughts are how do we get approval on May 17th?" said Scarpinato.
Olson said he will make changes to the plan if that's what it takes to get the votes.