PHOENIX — Arizona Democrats, who take control of the state Legislature in January, said Tuesday they plan to stop defending the state’s abortion laws in court, overhaul the school voucher program and go after tax breaks for data centers, KTAR News reported.
The announcement came a week after Democrats won both legislative chambers for the first time in 60 years. With Gov. Katie Hobbs reelected, the party will hold the governor’s office and the Legislature together for the first time since 1966.
The Republican-led Legislature took up the defense of several abortion laws after Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to, and GOP leaders appealed after a judge struck down several of the laws in February. Incoming Senate President Priya Sundareshan said that defense will end.
“We will certainly be ending the litigation,” Sundareshan said, adding that Democrats will work with partners to decide which laws to repeal.
Sundareshan said the Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program has cost more than projected and has seen what she called “significant examples of fraud and abuse.” She said changes Hobbs proposed last year are “absolutely on the table.”
Democrats are on track for a 20-10 Senate supermajority, enough to pass tax increases, which require a two-thirds vote in each chamber, but their projected 37-23 House majority falls short of that mark, according to KTAR.
Instead, Sundareshan pointed to ending tax breaks for data centers as something both parties might support. Hobbs and the Republican-led Legislature agreed in June to pause the data center sales tax break for three years, and the Arizona Commerce Authority approved 107 applications in the two weeks before the pause began.
Election law is also expected to be on the agenda. Arizona Mirror and Votebeat reported that Democratic lawmakers are weighing changes to GOP-backed voting laws passed after 2020 when the session opens Jan. 11.
Republican legislative leaders, who chose new leadership this week, have not yet laid out their response to the Democratic agenda.
Sources: KTAR News, Arizona Mirror. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Unknown / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
