Arizona Democrats: School voucher vote came without time for analysis
So much for legislative transparency.
Arizona senators had about an hour on Thursday to digest a complicated 21-page amendment to the eight-page legislation expanding the state's school voucher program. House members got a few more hours.
Democratic lawmakers said it wasn't nearly enough time to analyze the impacts of what could be the most sweeping education legislation in decades. And the tight timing left even some Republicans who most supported it at a loss to explain some details.
"We received it at 9:35 a.m.," said Sen. Lisa Otondo, D-Yuma. The floor debate began at about 10:30 a.m. "We also did not receive the revised fiscal note," she said.
Republican leadership released an updated fiscal analysis from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to Republican lawmakers and the media, but Democratic lawmakers said they didn't receive it before the vote. Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs borrowed The Arizona Republic's copy to show to her caucus on the floor.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/politicalinsider/2017/04/07/arizona-school-voucher-bill-empowerment-scholarship-accounts-legislature-transparency/100176154/