The Arizona Legislature has advanced measures that would protect public school funding for the next two years.
Arizona voters established an expenditure limit on public school spending in 1980.
When schools are appropriated money above that cap, lawmakers can choose to waive the spending limit and let schools use the full amount of money they’re allocated. In recent years, the school’s budgets have consistently exceeded the cap.
A bipartisan group of state senators voted Thursday to waive the spending limit for the next two years.
The Legislature is considering two measures. Each would waive the aggregate spending limit - known as the AEL - for one year.
Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) explained in a text that the AEL can only be done one year at a time.
Both bills passed in the Senate 24-5. The only opposition came from a handful of Republicans.
If the measures don’t make it out of the Legislature, public schools could face large budget cuts and layoffs.
The state House of Representatives is on a break until Monday, which is the earliest the chamber could pass the bill.
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