State Republican Lawmakers Call On Governor Ducey To Withhold Money From School Districts Defying Mask Legislation

Several lawmakers issued a joint letter to Governor Doug Ducey Wednesday, asking him to withhold funding and begin legal action against school districts that are not following state laws. This comes as several school districts, including the Flagstaff Unified School District, are going again new legislation that was included in the state budget, that prohibits K-12 schools from requiring students to be vaccinated or wear a mask in the classrooms. All 26 Republican state representatives and senators signed the letter, including LD6 representatives Walt Blackman and Brenda Barton and LD6 Senator Wendy Rogers. The letter wants the withholding of federal funding from school districts that are not complying, authorizing “empowerment scholarship accounts” to be offered to students in those districts, to be used to move tax dollars to another public or charter school. A notice would also be sent to families reminding them the state has banned mask and vaccination mandates and would initiate legal action against any school district defying state law. The state law banning mask and vaccine mandates takes effect 90 days from the end of the legislative session, which is September 29th. Governor Ducey has not yet commented on the letter.