Competing school voucher ballot initiatives possible for Arizona voters in November

PHOENIX - A major showdown over school vouchers is heading out of the Arizona State Capitol and straight to the ballot.

Lawmakers remain locked in a fierce debate over the ESA voucher program, but ultimately, the final decision will be up to voters.

What we know:

Of the two competing ballot measures, one slaps strict limits on the state’s school voucher program, while the other locks in protections.

However, there is a catch: if both pass, one completely wipes the other off the books.

Dig deeper:

The "Protect Education Act" is a proposed citizen-led initiative. If organizers collect enough signatures, it will ask voters to limit voucher eligibility to families making under $150,000 and crack down on improper spending.

"It brings basic transparency for taxpayers who are spending now over a billion dollars on this program," said Sharon Kirsch, the director of research for Save Our Schools Arizona. "We know there is a tremendous amount of waste, fraud and abuse. People are buying espresso machines with our tax dollars, diamond rings, lingerie."

Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers rebounded from a collapsed compromise deal on June 12 by voting to send their own measure, the "Military Family Protection Act," straight to the ballot.

"The Military Family Protection Act essentially says the state of Arizona will never confiscate scholarship funds from the children of parents who have served in our United States Armed Forces or killed in the line of duty," said Matt Beienburg, the Director of Education Policy for the Goldwater Institute.

What they're saying:

A core disagreement centers on what happens to unspent ESA funds. Supporters of the citizen-led initiative claim hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being hoarded.

"It brings unused dollars – there’s about 400 million dollars sitting in accounts just untouched, it would bring that money back into our public schools," Kirsch said.

Beienburg countered that view.

"The 'Protect Education Act,' or so it’s called, says for all these students, says every last penny that’s sitting in there at the end of the school year basically, we’re going to take those. You’ve now taken a savings program for these kids and said we’re going to force you to use it or lose it," Beienburg said.

Meanwhile, critics say there is a major catch hidden inside that legislative proposal. Because it is a constitutional amendment, it would expand voucher protections far beyond military families. Opponents call it a "poison pill," arguing the law is intentionally written to wipe out the entire "Protect Education Act" if both measures pass.

"It’s not just about military families," Kirsch said. "It’s about using military families so they can invalidate all of the protect education act. Because they way it’s written, it doesn’t just protect the money that’s sitting in accounts of military families but it would make the entire bill measure void."

On Friday, Republicans tried to pass a last-minute reform bill, but the deal collapsed in the State Senate when all Democrats and a few key conservative Republicans voted to kill it. As a result, the issue rests in the hands of voters.

What's next:

The "Military Family Protection Act" is already secured on the November ballot. Meanwhile, "Protect Education Act" organizers have until early July to submit enough valid signatures. Those backing the citizen initiative say they are confident it will be on the ballot.