Arizona Governor Doug Ducey released his Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2021

The Executive Budget retains a structural balance without raising taxes. The Governor’s recommendations mark his priorities for the next fiscal year and sets the stage for legislative budget discussions within the coming weeks.

Notable items included in the Executive Budget are as follows: 

K-12 EDUCATION

• $608 million total new spending for K-12 public education
• $175 million to provide additional 5% teacher pay raises, fulfilling 20x2020 plan
• $145 million in funding for enrollment growth, inflation, and other technical adjustments 
• $136 million to accelerate the restoration of flexible dollars, known as Additional Assistance, two years ahead of schedule
• $108 million in Building Renewal Grants (BRG) — a 35 percent increase over last year’s level, with $35 million in supplemental BRG funding for FY2020
• $59 million for the construction of two new schools as well as seven schools currently under construction
• $44 million for a three-year pilot program, Project Rocket, designed to close the achievement gap for low-income schools
• $38 million to fund additional cops on campus, school counselors, and social workers 
• $35 million to expand Results-Based Funding to help high-performing schools expand successful programs to more students
• $6 million to enhance the current square footage calculations for new school construction

HIGHER EDUCATION

• $35 million to support Arizona’s workforce and increase competitiveness through a “New Economy” initiative
• $35 million in one-time operational funding for ASU, UofA and NAU
• $11 million to fully restore cuts to STEM & Workforce Programs in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal community college districts
• $10 million for Governor’s research and grants matching funding as part of the “New Economy” Initiative
• $6 million to the 10 rural community college districts for flexible operating funding to meet the demand for career and technical education programs
• $4 million to expand the Arizona Advanced Technology Corridor
• $1 million to attract more students to the Arizona Teachers Academy

RAINY DAY FUND

• $25 million into the Rainy Day Fund to further improve Arizona’s fiscal resilience

INFRASTRUCTURE

• $59 million to lay conduit and fiber optic cable as well as install smart highway technologies in the following locations:
• Interstate 17 between Sunset Point and Flagstaff
• Interstate 40 between the Arizona-New Mexico and Arizona-California borders 
• Interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales
• $28 million to accelerate expansion of the I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix. The investment fully funds a new six-lane bridge on I-10 across the Gila River
• $10 million to triple funding for Rural Broadband Grants

ECONOMY

• $8 million to develop a Business One-Stop portal that will provide a single online location to help citizens and businesses plan, start, grow, and relocate businesses in Arizona 
• $1 million to strengthen and grow Arizona’s economy through travel and tourism promotion

HEALTH AND WELFARE

• $14 million to provide incentives for parents to adopt sibling groups and children with significant developmental disabilities
• $11 million for 10 percent pay raises for Department of Child Safety caseworkers
• $6 million in ongoing funding from the Medical Marijuana Fund to provide critical access to opioid treatment services to uninsured and underinsured Arizonans
• $5 million to double the “Grandmother” stipend for family members who serve as caregivers for children in out-of-home-care, otherwise known as “kinship care”
• $1 million to improve health of newborns by adding two more tests to newborn testing 
• $400,000 to establish a Suicide Mortality Review Team to reduce suicide rates and target high-risk populations