Author: Will Humble

Judge Katherine Cooper from the Maricopa County Superior Court heard the lawsuit filed by a coalition of organizations including the Arizona School Boards Association, the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona Education Association, and the Arizona Advocacy Network filed a legal complaint in Superior Court on Monday.

The suit asks the court for Injunctive Relief on the portions of the health and K-12 budget bills that prohibit school districts from implementing universal masking policies.

The action rightly points out that the legislature passed, and the governor signed three budget bills (HB 2898, SB 1824, and SB 1825) that “… include substantive policy provisions that have nothing to do with the budget” in direct violation of the state constitution.

Here’s a School guest blog from James Hodge, Jr  J.D., LL.M., the Peter Kiewit Foundation Professor of Law and Director, Center for Public Health Law and Policy, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University that explains the suit.

Expect that regardless of how Judge Cooper rules that the case will be quickly appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. I expect a Preliminary Injunction stopping the implementation of Ducey’s harmful policy on 9/29 will be issued pending a final ruling on the merits of the case.

The case has far-reaching implications. If the court holds that the Budget Bills were unconstitutional because they violate the single subject requirement, then those aspects of the BRB that pertain to the case will need to be excised.

The court could even rule that the budget reconciliation bills (BRBs) are unconstitutional in their entirety, which would result in a special legislative session to draw up a new state budget for 2022.

• 57% of Arizona likely voters agree that students, staff, and teachers should be required to wear a mask at school
• 59% disagree with the Governor’s decision to make it illegal for schools to require students, teachers, and staff to wear masks beginning 9/29
• Nearly 62% disagree with Governor Ducey’s decision to offer more grant funding schools ONLY to schools that DON’T require masks

Contact:      Will Humble, Executive Director

                   willhumble@azpha.org

                   602.538.9692

PHOENIX (September 9, 2021) – A new statewide survey gives Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey a failing grade for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 46 percent rating his performance as poor or failing compared to 23 percent giving him “Excellent/Very Good” marks. Another 27 percent rated his performance as “OK.”

Will Humble, Executive Director of the Arizona Public Health Association said, “Throughout the pandemic, Governor Ducey and his team have consistently suggested that Arizona’s poor performance is a result of bad luck. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Humble added, “Arizona ranks 7^th in the nation in deaths per capita from COVID-19 largely because of his bad decisions, misplaced priorities, unwillingness to implement proven effective public health policy measures like universal masking, inability to learn from policy failures, and a failure to execute core responsibilities.”

A sizable 83.8% of Democrats rated the Governor’s performance as “Poor/Failing” along with 38.5% of unaffiliated voters.  However, 39.3% of Republicans gave Ducey a score of “Excellent/Very good” including 44.7% of Republican males.

Humble said it’s no surprise that likely voters disapprove of the governor’s performance. He consistently makes decisions that harm the pandemic response. A whopping 57% of likely voters agree that universal masking should be implemented in Arizona schools, with only 40% agreeing with the Governor’s decision to prohibit schools from implementing universal masks beginning September 29.

The survey also found a large disparity in vaccine acceptance by political party. Remarkably, more than 93% of Democratic likely voters surveyed report that they are vaccinated against COVID-19, while only 52% of likely voters registered as a Republican report that they are vaccinated.

Humble said, “While it’s clear that we still have vaccine access disparities because of language challenges and income disparities, our survey found that a dominant problem is political ideology.”

“Arizona’s response during the pandemic is wholly insufficient, and Governor Ducey is largely to blame” concluded Humble. “From the banning of mask requirements, to paying schools extra to jeopardize student health and safety, the Governor has not only failed to implement core public health interventions, but worse, he is making decisions that he likely knows are harming the health and safety of Arizona’s kids.”

Fortunately, the Arizona School Board Association, the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Union High School District are challenging Governor Ducey’s harmful micromanagement of Arizona schools, cities, and towns.

The Arizona Public Health Association is hopeful that their arguments in court will carry the day and that Arizonans will get some well-needed relief from Governor Ducey’s harmful and dangerous decisions.

On a scale of Excellent, Very Good, Ok, Poor, or Failing, how would you rate the job Governor Ducey has done handling the COVID-19 pandemic?

 8.3%            Excellent                     Mean Score:  2.62

15.0%           Very Good

27.3%           Ok

24.2%           Poor

22.0%           Failing

3.3%            Don’t know/Refused

At this time, do you think that individuals should be required to wear a mask while in local government, schools, or charter school facilities?

48.8%           Definitely Yes

8.2%            Probably Yes

8.5%            Probably No

32.3%           Definitely No

2.2%            Don’t know/Refused

Do you think that local governments, school districts, and charter schools should be able to determine their own rules regarding mask requirements for entering buildings, attending schools, and participating in activities?

38.2%          Definitely Yes 

14.8%          Probably Yes

9.3%            Probably No

33.5%          Definitely No

4.2%            Don’t know/Refused

As part of the state budget, the Arizona State Legislature passed, and Governor Ducey signed, a law that goes into effect September 29th that makes it illegal for local school districts and charter schools to mandate wearing masks for all students and teachers. Knowing just what you know right now, do you support or oppose this law?

26.7%          Definitely Yes 

9.3%            Probably Yes

7.0%            Probably No

54.7%          Definitely No

2.3%            Don’t know/Refused

Have you received a vaccination for COVID-19?

72.0%           Yes

21.3%           No

6.7%            Refused

GOP:   51.8% Yes

Dem:  93.4% Yes

PND:   75.0% Yes

IND:   81.3% Yes