'Governor Veto' Strikes Again

GUEST OPINION

'Governor Veto' Strikes Again: School Choice Tax Credit Bill Takes Hit

Jan. 18, 2006

PHOENIX—The Arizona Legislature has barely begun the 2006 session, but Governor 'Veto' Janet Napolitano has already swung her axe -- angering conservatives in the process of dispatching a school choice bill. And apparently, liberals really aren't interested in "choice."

Clint Bolick, president and general counsel of the Phoenix-based Alliance for School Choice, a national nonpartisan policy organization that supports expanded educational options for disadvantaged schoolchildren, call the governor's veto "a tragedy and a travesty.”

“Napolitano decided that her special-interest allies are more important than Arizona schoolchildren,” Bolick said.

The Arizona Federation of Taxpayers (AFT) also blasted Napolitano’s veto today of House Bill 2004, which would have established a corporate income tax credit for contributions by corporations to student tuition organizations. The governor is beholden to the liberal teachers' union and the veto will shore up her Democratic base for this year's governor's election.

“This bill would’ve been a winner for taxpayers and a winner for children,” said AFT executive director Tom Jenney. “The government could’ve saved thousands of dollars for each child who left the government school system and enrolled in a private school. Just as important, we could’ve given thousands of low-income Arizona students a chance at a high-quality education.”

According to a school finance study published last year by the Goldwater Institute, the average state base equalization funding per student ranges between $4,200 and $4,600, and the average per-student portion of non-equalized district funding is $4,309. The combined average per-pupil amount for government schools in Arizona is between $8,500 and $9,000. By comparison, the tuition for private schools is typically between $3,700 and $5,500 per student. Under the HB 2004 tax credit, the maximum scholarship would have been $4,200 for students in grades K-8 and $5,500 for high school students.

“Even if each of the tax-credit scholarships hit the maximum of $5,500 per student, the state would have saved $8,500 per student, for a net savings of $3,000 per student,” Jenney said.

With a $5 million total cap for the program, and scholarships generally in the range of $1,500, the corporate tax credit could have helped more than 3,000 children transfer to private schools annually, and saved the state millions of dollars in education expenses.

“The only problem we saw with this bill is that the cap should have been higher,” Jenney said, “so that we could save more money and save more kids.”

According to the Phoenix-based Alliance for School Choice, HB 2004 would have allowed scholarships only for public school students transferring to private schools, and it would have required that 70 percent of funds must be spent on children with family incomes below 185 percent of the income limit to qualify for reduced lunches.

AFT chairman Chad Kirkpatrick suggested that Napolitano’s veto was an unwise political move. “First,” Kirkpatrick said, “The governor needed to regain some trust with many legislators, who felt betrayed last session when she vetoed this bill. Second, school choice is immensely popular among voters.”

In a 2005 Kenski poll, 91.4 percent of Arizonans supported one or more of the five school choice proposals before the legislature, with 65.6 percent “strongly” in favor of one or more of the programs.

Last year, Gov. Napolitano promised to sign the bill, which would have established a corporate tax credit for contributions to scholarships for low-income children attending private schools, as part of a deal with Senate Republicans who funded the governor’s full-day kindergarten program. Napolitano went back on her word and vetoed the bill, complaining that it did not include a sunset clause. She agreed to sign the bill if the legislature passed it again with such a provision.

Last week, the Legislature did just that, but the untrustworthy Napolitano demanded additional concessions to sign the bill.

Bolick said, “Last year, we were willing to give the governor the benefit of the doubt and chalked up her veto to a miscommunication. This time there’s no question about it: this is a broken promise of the worst sort because it penalizes children who desperately need educational opportunities.”

Bolick vowed that the Alliance would continue its efforts to pursue school choice measures in the current legislative session and applauded the legislative leadership, particularly Senate President Ken Bennett and House Speaker Jim Weiers for their principled support.