Republicans Maintain Control of the Arizona State Legislature

Nov. 17, 2020
State Relations

 

Arizona State Legislature

Over the last six months, political insiders from across the state predicted the 2020 election would result in the Democrats controlling at least one chamber of the State Legislature in January. The Democrats have not held the majority in either chamber since the early 1990s. While some of the election results were razor-thin, Republicans maintained their majorities in both the House and the Senate. The House of Representatives split will remain the same as the last two years, 31 Republicans and 29 Democrats. In the Senate, the Republican majority narrowed by one, and they now hold a 16-14 majority.

GCR has been meeting with candidates and lawmakers during the interim and will continue to press our priorities as lawmakers take office in the fifty-fifth legislature on January 11, 2021.

Voters Approve Two Ballot Propositions

This year Arizona voters passed two ballot propositions, Prop 208 related to K-12 education funding and Prop 207 related to the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Prop 207 – Smart and Safe Arizona

Passed with 59.9%

This Act will legalize marijuana for personal use in Arizona for adults 21 years and older. The Department of Health Services must create a licensing process to grant approval for dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana by March 2021. After November 30, 2020, it is no longer illegal to possess or grow up to 6 marijuana plants. There will be a 16% excise tax on marijuana sales to fund community colleges, infrastructure, public safety, and public health programs.

Prop 208 – Invest in Ed

Passed with 51.7%

This Act imposes a 3.5% surcharge on incomes over $250,000 for individual filers and $500,000 for couples filing joint returns. Revenues from this surcharge are distributed as follows:

  • 50% to hire and increase the base salary for teachers and classroom support personnel · 25% to hire and increase base salary for student support services personnel
  • 10% for mentoring and retention programs for new classroom teachers
  • 12% of funding dedicated to CTE and vocational training programs
  • 3% to the Arizona Teachers Academy (ATA)