Breaking Senate President Petersen: “No Consensus On Prop 123”
With Republicans still split on Prop 123, school counselors are jumping in—advocating for their cut of the cash.
Prop 123—a funding solution for Arizona schools—tapped the state land trust to pour billions into education.
Now the battle’s heating up over who gets the cash and how it’s divided.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) exclusively tells State 48 News Republicans are unable to reach a consensus on Prop 123. In fact, the lawmaker says Prop 123 may not happen at all this session. For now, all attention, at least in the Senate, is on the budget.
Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD4) struck a more diplomatic tone, saying,
Prop 123 is a complex piece of legislation, and we continue to have conversations with a number of colleagues and organizations to ensure we have the strongest chance of passage at the ballot.
House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-LD29) did not respond to State 48 News. However, the Speaker has generally been slow to speak publicly about negotiations.
Rep. John Gillette (R-LD30) tells State 48,
My recommendation is that we hold off until we have a Republican governor. Save Our Schools has already launched an anti-Prop 123 campaign without even seeing the language. I propose we wait until next year. They haven’t entered this assessment in good faith.
Rep. John Gillette
Governor Katie Hobbs has reportedly said there must be a deal on Prop 123 before she will begin budget negotiations. Her stance has frustrated Republican lawmakers, who see the issues as separate and believe tying the budget to a stalled education funding proposition only deepens the gridlock. Hobbs, however, has remained firm, calling Prop 123 a top priority and saying she will not sign off on any budget that fails to address the future of education funding in Arizona. With both sides digging in, the legislative session appears to be heading for a prolonged stalemate. The clock is ticking.
NEW: SCHOOL COUNSELORS LOBBY FOR A BIGGER SLICE OF PROP 123 FUNDING PIE
The fight isn’t only over how much to pull from the State Land Trust—it’s also about who gets paid. The Chandler Chamber writes some lawmakers want to prioritize raises for teachers, citing Arizona’s chronic teacher shortage. Others argue support staff deserve a cut too, saying schools can’t run—let alone teach—without bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and aides.
Now, the Arizona School Counselors Association joins the fight. In its latest weekly email blast, the group called Proposition 123 “instrumental in restoring funding to Arizona’s public education system.” 2024–2025 Chair Kristina Guy added that as lawmakers debate what comes next when the measure sunsets, “we remain committed to ensuring school counselors are a priority in any funding conversations.”
Educational professionals beyond the classroom are making their voices heard. In a pointed statement, the Arizona School Counselors Association (AzSCA) emphasized that while teacher salaries deserve attention, they shouldn’t be the sole focus of Prop 123’s renewal.
“However, the current proposals for Prop 123's renewal focus primarily—if not exclusively—on teacher salaries. While investing in teacher pay is important, AzSCA urges lawmakers and voters to recognize that Arizona’s students rely on more than their teachers to thrive,” the organization wrote.
AzSCA highlighted the essential roles played by school counselors, social workers, psychologists, bus drivers, and support staff—each contributing to a safe and supportive learning environment. “We know that each day, we are helping students manage mental health challenges, navigate academic planning, and develop interpersonal skills,” the statement continued. The group stressed that the fiscal support provided by Prop 123 is especially critical in Arizona, where counselor-to-student ratios remain among the highest in the nation.
“For the 2023–2024 school year, the ratio was 645 students for every school counselor,” Guy writes. “While that far exceeds the American School Counselor Association's guideline of 1:250, it's still an improvement over the prior year's ratio of 1:667.”
This is a major battle brewing in the legislature this year. We will continue to keep an eye on this.
PROP 123 SHOWDOWN: BILLIONS FOR SCHOOLS HANG IN THE BALANCE
Just last week, State 48 News broke the story that Save Our Schools Arizona, the Arizona Education Association, several advocacy groups, and Democratic lawmakers had come out in strong, united opposition to the Republican plan to overhaul Prop 123.
They’ve “vowed a robust media campaign” — in other words, get ready for the protests to start rolling.
The House returns from its break this week, and once again, all eyes are on the State Land Trust, the state budget, and the remaining bills still in play—each one a potential bargaining chip in the final stretch of negotiations.
As the majority prepares to unveil their plan, there are rumors they may seek to codify school choice as a bargaining chip for Prop 123.
If approved, the measure would go to the ballot in November 2026.
JUST TUNING IN? WHAT IS PROP 123 AND WHY ARIZONA CAN’T IGNORE IT
Voters approved Prop 123 in 2016 to pump $3.5 billion into Arizona’s schools over a decade—pulling extra cash from the State Land Trust. But with the clock ticking toward a July 2025 expiration, lawmakers are now battling over how much more to squeeze from the fund—and what happens if voters say no next time.
To provide a clearer picture of the funding involved, below is the Arizona Department of Education’s spreadsheet detailing the first round of FY 2025 Proposition 123 payments. This document outlines how the initial $37.5 million installment—scheduled for distribution by last November 2024—is allocated among school districts and charter schools across the state.
The Arizona Department of Education is scheduled to distribute the second installment of Fiscal Year 2025 Proposition 123 funding—totaling $37.5 million—by the end of May 2025.
State 48 News will continue to follow the developments as they happen.