Kevin Volk’s Message to LD17
Arizona's 57th Legislature, 1st Session - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The dust has settled, and the regular legislative session of 2025 has adjourned. I survived!
It's difficult to summarize a session as a legislator, with over 770 bills voted on, and twists and turns throughout a tumultuous five-and-a-half-month period, but I'll attempt to do so with the classic categories of “the Good,” “the Bad,” and “the Ugly.”
Part I - The Good
Progress on Bills
I was able to pass 3 bills out of committee, and one bill was signed into law!
HB2887 was signed by Governor Hobbs in May. This is my bill to allow electric vehicle owners to choose specialty license plates (those with the custom backgrounds). While a matter of style preference and expression for some drivers, specialty plates are also a critical source of revenue for amazing Arizona groups, whether they are state agencies (e.g. Veterans Services), sports teams, universities (U of A), or a wide variety of great nonprofit organizations (Arizona Food Banks, Habitat for Humanity, etc.) It passed the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee unanimously and passed out of both the House and the Senate with broad, bipartisan support. It was signed into law and will take effect in a couple of months. I estimate that the bill could help bring in about $1 million for Arizona groups over the next 5 years, potentially more if electric vehicles continue to grow their market share. This was one of only 10 Democratic-bills signed into law this year - out of 265!
HB2673 would make it easier for cities and counties to accept federal assistance and funding, increasingly important in this era of federal funds becoming harder to come by. It passed the Government Committee, but then stalled.
HB2886 was the bill I ran in honor of John McLean, who was killed by a drunk driver who had previously been convicted for a DUI. It would increase penalties for knowingly helping a previous offender drive a vehicle not equipped with a Breathalyzer device. It passed the Appropriations Committee with broad bipartisan support, 17 to 1, but then stalled.
I will be re-introducing both of the stalled bills next session.
Education Funding - "AEL"
The Aggregate Expenditure Limit, or AEL, is a 1980 formula that dictates whether Arizona schools can spend money, regardless of how much money the state has that year. This means that state legislators approve the education budget for the upcoming school year (say June 2025), and then have to vote again in the spring of that school year (e.g. March 2026) to make sure schools get the money they've already approved.
This has allowed extreme state legislators to come dangerously close to being able to hold education funding hostage. If the AEL were ever to go into effect and not be overridden, it would result in fired teachers, shut down schools, canceled graduations, and likely massive labor shortages across large swaths of the state economy.
I sponsored a bill, HB2777, to repeal this ridiculous, out of date holdover by putting the vote to the people. While my bill did not even get a hearing to be discussed, we were able to waive the AEL for two years as part of the budget negotiation. While not a permanent fix like I sought, I am glad that the spectre of a politician-driven shutdown of our schools will be off the table for a couple of years.
Water - Ag-to-Urban
After years of negotiation, a deal was reached on a policy that would allow land used for agriculture, which often has very high water usage (and accounts for 70% of the water used in Arizona), to be sold for residential use provided that the residential water usage is at or below thresholds. Governor Hobbs' Water Resources department (ADWR) set the thresholds based on data. Homebuilders wanted easier standards, but the Governor's office and legislative Democrats held strong until we arrived at water usage metrics that have been modeled to result in strong water savings. ADWR estimates the savings could be in the millions of acre-feet (the common metric for large-scale water). This is a big, bold policy, with incredible potential results if executed correctly. However, it is not without risk, and as I stated in explaining my vote, it is our duty as legislators to monitor it carefully to ensure that it is having the intended results.
The Budget: Education, Child Care, Health Care, Transportation, Public Safety
There were many, many wins for Arizonans - especially working families - in the state's bipartisan budget bill. It was primarily negotiated by the Governor, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans. House Republicans were mostly absent from the conversations until the very end - they seemed to be completely distracted by the recesses that they had given themselves.
These are some of the priorities that were funded:
Backfill of $66 million for Arizona schools ($6 million for District 17 school districts)
Scholarships to recruit more teachers for Arizona school
Scholarships for tuition at both state universities and community colleges
Bond payments to help universities build out critical infrastructure
Maintenance and improvement of school facilities
Dual enrollment to help high school students gain college credits and save money
Free school meals for lower- and middle-income students
Program making healthy, Arizona-grown food more affordable
Fight hunger among low-income students during the summer
Expanded access to affordable, high quality child care to more families
Child care program to provide afterschool and summer care for 5-12 year olds
AHCCS (Arizona Medicaid) at full expected levels with no harmful reforms, including the Division of Developmental Disabilities
Area Agencies on Aging for services and housing
Extended services for youth aging out of foster care
More graduate medical education positions to keep doctors in Arizona
Tribal health facilities and new investments in traditional healing services
Major statewide road projects to reduce travel time, gas costs
Restitution resources for wrongfully convicted Arizonans
Services to support veterans who are homeless
Services for victims of crimes
Local law enforcement agencies to help fight fentanyl
State trooper raise of 5%, bonus for corrections officers of 4%
There are many, many other investments that this budget made in state priorities that benefit vulnerable populations, working people, and middle-class Arizona families.
However, the state budget was signed into law while the future of the misleadingly named "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act was still unclear. As a highly federally-dependent state, many of these budget wins are at risk with the passage of the federal budget bill. More to come on that in The Bad and The Ugly.
That's a summary of “The Good.” Next is “The Bad” and “The Ugly” (no desert shootouts included!)
I couldn't do this without your support!
Sincerely,
Kevin Volk
Arizona State Representative, District 17