The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Arizona Bill Requires Notice of Waived Rights for Empowerment Scholarship Account Applicants
Last action · February 9, 2026: Senate Second ReadingSponsors: Eva Diaz and 7 others
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
The bill requires the Arizona Department of Education to post and include in application packets a notice outlining each legal right that a parent and waive by enrolling in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program. It also details provisions regarding account administration, audit procedures, third-party eligibility evaluations, and repayment credits.
- Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program allows families to use state public funds for private school tuition, tutoring, and other customized educational expenses. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Parents and qualified students
Applicants and participants must be provided written notice of waived rights upon enrollment, face revised audit and suspension timeframes, and gain explicit repayment crediting rules.
Arizona Department of Education
The department is mandated to include waiver notices in applications, maintain expense databases, conduct audits, and manage application timelines.
County school superintendents
Superintendents are authorized to approve lists of independent third-party evaluators if the state department fails to maintain a statewide contract.
School districts
School districts may be required to pay for independent educational evaluations if the department and county superintendent fail to maintain third-party evaluation contracts.
Key Facts
- The Arizona Department of Education must post on its website and include in each application packet a notice outlining each legal right that a qualified student and parent waive by enrolling in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program.
- The department must conduct or contract for annual, random, and quarterly audits of accounts and develop risk-based auditing procedures in consultation with the office of the auditor general.
- An account holder in good standing may be randomly selected for an annual compliance review only once during any five-year period.
- If an account is suspended, the parent or qualified student has 15 days, not including weekends, to respond and take corrective action before removal.
Show all 13 facts
- Parents may appeal administrative decisions made by the department to the state board of education and may represent themselves or designate a non-attorney representative who cannot charge fees.
- The state board of education may refer cases of substantial misuse of monies to the attorney general for collection or criminal investigation.
- The department must accept applications between July 1 and June 30 of each year and issue award letters to eligible applicants within 30 days after receipt of a completed application and documentation.
- Qualified students cannot receive ESA monies while simultaneously enrolled in a school district or charter school.
- On or before September 1 and November 1 of each year, the department must furnish an account funding estimate for the following fiscal year to the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting.
- If the department fails to maintain a contract with an independent third party to determine eligibility for educational therapies on or after January 1, 2023, county school superintendents may approve an alternate list of independent third parties.
- If a county superintendent does not provide a list of approved third parties within 90 days of a department contract lapse, the parent may obtain an independent evaluation from a qualified examiner paid for by the resident school district.
- Repayments made by parents for purchases determined not to be allowable expenses must be credited back to the account balance within 30 days after receipt of payment, except in fraud cases.
- If the state board of education issues a stay of an account suspension during an appeal, the department may not withhold funding or contract renewal because of the appealed decision during the stay.
Frequently Asked Questions
What new requirement does the bill place on Empowerment Scholarship Account applications?
How long does an account holder have to respond to a notice of account suspension?
Who pays for an independent educational evaluation if the department fails to contract with a third-party evaluator?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · on the Senate floor.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 9, 2026SenateFloorSenate Second Reading
- Feb 5, 2026SenateIntroducedSenate First Reading
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.azleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools