Hobbs calls on Horne to cancel automatic voucher redemption plan

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has asked Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne to cancel his plan to automatically refund many purchases made through the state’s school voucher program. the state.

“The actions you propose only create greater opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse in this nearly billion-dollar program,” Hobbs wrote. in a letter Tuesday. She said Horne’s chosen course of action was a “total abandonment” of the Arizona Department of Education’s “responsibility to ensure the appropriate use of public funds.”

Last week, Horne announced that his Department of Education automatically refunds voucher purchases of $2,000 or less and reviews them later.

The announcement followed complaints from parents regarding long wait times for refunds of the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which allows Arizona children not enrolled in public school to use public funds for private school tuition, homeschool expenses and other educational purchases.

Horne said the automatic refund plan would reduce the backlog of 89,000 claims to 4,000. He blamed the delays on insufficient staffing amid rapid expansion of the program and a recent directive from Attorney General Kris Mayes to ensure homeschool purchases are linked to curriculum.

Hobbs, a Democrat who has criticized the voucher program, said in her letter that Horne, a Republican who has been a promoter of the voucher program, was creating “a significant opportunity” for abuse.

“By refusing to review 85,000 purchases, you are likely allowing up to $170 million of taxpayer dollars to be spent without proper oversight,” Hobbs wrote.

In response, Horne released a statement Thursday noting that Hobbs signed a bill this year authorizing “risk-based audit procedures” in the voucher program. He also said Hobbs contributed to the backlog problem by signing a bill allowing private school tuition to be paid through reimbursement. Previously, private school tuition had to be paid through ClassWallet, a third-party payment processor that can be used for pre-approved providers.

“The ESA program is one of the most responsible programs in the state,” Horne wrote in the release.

Horne has previously said the Department of Education cannot automatically refund all vouchers because doing so would risk paying for “outlandish expenses, such as $5,000 for a gold Rolex watch, $25,000 for a golf simulator and other examples that would have totally undermined credibility.” AES with the public.”

In Hobbs’ letter, she said her automatic reimbursement plan contradicts what she described as her “desire to avoid expenses that are clearly not educational…by allowing one-time purchases in excess of 25 percent of the median ESA award without any ADE review. staff.” The median annual grant amount per student is approximately $7,400.

Horne announced the process change a week after an Arizona grand jury indicted two out-of-state residents suspected of defrauding the voucher program. Prosecutors with the Attorney General’s Office said the two men tampered with dozens of children to obtain dollar vouchers that they used for their own living expenses. Hobbs, in his letter, also cites examples from a ABC15 2023 program surveywhich revealed families had used ESA funding for luxury car driving lessons, ski passes and pianos.

“Given the multiple indictments for ESA fraud that have been issued over the last year… as well as the trend of excessive purchases… I urge you to reconsider this new policy,” Hobbs told Horn.

The Ministry of Education said last week that if a purchase was later found to be inappropriate or fraudulent, the account holder could voluntarily reimburse the ministry, the ministry could sweep the voucher recipient’s account for funds or the ministry could forward the file to the attorney general’s office. for collection.

Hobbs called the plan “deeply troubling” and called on the Department of Education to reconsider and “propose a solution to administer the ESA program that does not provide a blank check for even more rampant fraud.”

Contact the journalist at [email protected].