What happened in the legislature
As you may already know, HB2853 was signed into law. This universal school voucher expansion program, if it isn’t stopped, will be the first of its kind in the United States and the death knell for public education in Arizona. It will subsidize private school education including elite and religious schools, and there are no constraints on who is eligible, with little accountability or transparency.
The group Save our Schools (SOS) is working to collect 118,823 signatures that will refer HB2853 back to the November ballot for voters to decide on whether to keep or remove this law. Signatures are due to the Secretary of State’s office (turned in all at once) by September 23rd. That means Pima volunteers will have until mid September to help collect signatures.
How you can help
The petition to refer HB2853 to the ballot is now available to sign and circulate at the PCDP office. We will not have regular office notary hours until after the August 2nd primary election, but signatures can be notarized by any notary in Arizona; it doesn’t have to be a volunteer notary with PCDP.
You cannot sign this petition online. It must be signed in person. You must be a registered voter to sign the petition. Any party affiliation can sign.
You must be eligible to be registered to vote in Arizona in order to circulate this petition as a volunteer.
Your signature may appear on a petition you circulate. If you are a notary, you cannot notarize a petition that you have already put your signature on.
The main point of contact for Save Our Schools in Southern Arizona is Christina Vazquez. Please call our office at (520) 326-3716 during our office hours to ask for Christina’s contact information.