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Arizona lawmakers want special legislative session to lift school spending limit

A bipartisan group of legislators is asking Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to call a special session to address school spending in Arizona before the end of the year. 

School districts have prepared budgets and are on target to spend nearly $7.8 billion.

However, a 1980 voter approved spending limit on schools would limit that to $6.4 billion adjusted for inflation and student growth without further legislative approval.

Michelle Udall chairs the state House Education Committee.

"We have the votes. All we need is the governor, is for Gov. Ducey to follow through on the promise he made, to be a man of his word, and the leader he was elected to be," Udall said. 

Current state House Speaker Rusty Bowers said he’s ready to bring lawmakers back to the capitol to address the issue. 

Greg Hahne started as a news intern at KJZZ in 2020 and returned as a field correspondent in 2021. He learned his love for radio by joining Arizona State University's Blaze Radio, where he worked on the production team.