Time to rein in ESAs as thousands are facing service cuts for their children

PHOENIX — An East Valley mother who leads a coalition for disabled parents is calling on Arizona lawmakers to make cuts to the state’s Empowerment Scholarship program, as children with impairments are facing service reductions.

RELATED: Gov. Katie Hobbs is cutting services to Arizona families with disabled children, saying ‘guardrails’ are the only way to save the growing program

Brandi Coon, executive director of Raising Voices Coalition, said cuts to attendant care and habilitation services will affect thousands of Arizona families. 

The reductions for care around the home or life skills for disabled children are planned to begin Oct. 1. Virtual town halls to address the reductions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

“We are preparing families for these polices to roll out, and that makes me so sad and heartbroken,” she told 12News.

Gov. Katie Hobbs said reductions are needed at the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) budget to “ensure that Arizona’s most essential Medicaid programs remain sustainable for generations to come.”

Coon, who uses the ESA program for her son, Tyson, said there should also be cuts to that program, as 12News uncovered that ESA parents, since late last year, have purchased luxury items, including diamond rings, Kenmore appliances, and iPhones, with state tax dollars.

RELATED: I-TEAM: ESA parents bought diamond rings, lingerie, and Kenmore appliances with education tax dollars

“Individuals are choosing to take advantage of vulnerabilities within it, within the ESA program, to exploit it, and making a bad name for every other individual and family that’s using it how they are supposed to,” Coon said.

She added that her viewpoint is not popular among ESA supporters.

“I’ve been raked over the coals for this in the public sphere within the ESA community,” Coon said. “But there has to be improvements and changes so that these programs are sustainable.”

“I have proposed reasonable guardrails, responsible income limits, things that would curtail the program so that we ensure that people that need it are getting it,” the governor said.

But Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said no changes are needed to the ESA program, which has grown to cost $1 billion a year for more than 93,000 students.

“People don’t like this program because they don’t like school choice, and they’re going to pile on unreasonable requests for things that we don’t do with other payment programs,” Kavanagh said.

Kavanagh added he’s confident the Arizona Department of Education will eventually claw back any misspending.

And, he applauded the governor for making reductions at DDD, which he said is one of the “fastest growing programs in state government.”

Kavanagh said the state spent $1 billion for DDD services in 2024, and the cost is $1.66 billion this fiscal year.

“So, over the course of three years, this program has increased by two-thirds of a billion dollars,” he said. “We don’t want to reimburse parents for doing things they would do ordinarily if the child were not disabled. I mean, why would we pay them for laundry and housekeeping and preparing meals?”

Kavanagh, one of the key budget writers, also said even with the governor’s reductions at DDD, he expects lawmakers would need to give the program an additional $50 million when the Legislature convenes in January.

“These kids need that care. It’s very expensive. We’re going to pay for it, but we want to have some reasonable controls,” he said.

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