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Pima County now offering scholarships for early childhood education
Inside Tucson Business
Parents who are looking for help in paying for childcare can now apply for Pima County’s new Pima Early Education Program scholarships.
The PEEPs program is designed to expand the availability of high-quality preschool to eligible families.
In spring 2021, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved funding for the PEEPs program, drawing funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. Other local jurisdictions, including Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley and several local school districts also kicked in to help fund the program and the county can draw from the Library District for additional dollars. All told, over the course of three years, the county expects to spend $30 million on PEEPs.
PEEP scholarships are reserved for high-quality preschools and households with an annual income of at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. A family of four with a household income of $53,000 is eligible to apply for PEEP scholarships. This is slightly higher than the median 2019 household income of Tucson. According to U.S. census data, Tucson’s median household income is $43,425.
High-quality preschools are rated through the Quality First program run by First Things First, a state agency focused on early childhood education funded by a portion of Arizona’s tobacco tax. Quality First rates early education programs with a five-star rating system. A three- to five-star rating is considered high quality. Ratings are based on key components found in quality early childhood program research: health and safety practices; skilled teachers; learning environments (materials and activities); opportunities for active play and hands-on exploration; teacher-child interactions and engaging conversations. Programs are reevaluated every one to two years.
High standards can come with higher tuition rates as teachers with higher education degrees are paid more at early childhood programs and smaller classes require more teachers. Those higher price tags leave many lower-income families unable to attend such facilities, although the Arizona Department of Economic Security provides scholarships to some lower-income families.
PEEPs Program Manager Nicole Scott said the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s eligibility for child care benefits is at 165% of the federal poverty line, “so it’s fairly low and there’s a lot of stipulations that are attached to it. The goal behind (PEEPs) was to increase access to families within Pima County.”
Early education and childcare for most families can cost more than in-state college tuition. The average cost of infant care in Arizona is $10,948, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This is a financial burden on all parents, but lower-income families are especially affected.
“That is actually why my youngest son didn’t attend until he was two and a half because I was literally working to pay for child care,” Scott said.
Scott has four children and couldn’t afford to pay for her son’s childcare on her educator’s salary. She said she can see a difference in her son’s development compared to her other children.
PEEPs has a website with ample information on scholarships, but Scott advises residents to visit the Childcare Resource and Referral website, funded by DES.
“They have this large database across the state of early childhood providers, all of their information, hours of operation, comments, reviews, and if they have scholarships,” Scott said. “We encourage families to call them because they will direct them to schools within their area that will help fill their needs.”
The PEEPs program was born out of a previous campaign for free preschool education called Strong Start. Strong Start Tucson was an unsuccessful ballot initiative more than four years ago that proposed to enact a sales tax to pay for early childhood education.
Penelope Jacks was the chair of the Strong Start Tucson initiative campaign committee and said they were surprised by the outcome. Jacks is a retired lawyer and worked for the child advocacy group Children’s Action Alliance for more than 20 years. Jacks is the current co-chair of the Preschool Promise, a preschool advocacy group.
“When I retired, I swore I would not do for free what I used to do for money, about a week later I am doing for free what I used to do for money,” Jacks said.
After the campaign, Jacks and Strong Start campaign manager Kelly Griffith met with people who had opposed the ballot initiative. One of the objections to Strong Start was its specific focus on Tucson. Nay-sayers wanted it to reach more children in Pima County. Jacks said they asked the Pima County Board of Supervisors to create high-quality early education scholarships.
Jacks found willing board members after the election of Supervisors Adelita Grijalva, Matt Heinz and Rex Scott. (No relation to PEEPs program manager Nicole Scott.)
Rex Scott, a former administrator in several local school districts whose wife teaches kindergarten through third grade, said the biggest barrier to early education is household income, even though research shows early education significantly improves the lives of children as they develop.
“When they’re 3 or 4 years old, they are not only at a unique stage of brain development, but we’re also concerned with their literacy skills, their interpersonal development, their ability to interact with their peers, and kindergarten readiness,” Rex Scott said.
Rex Scott is referencing the mountain of early education research published in the last two decades. Nobel Memorial Prize Winner in Economics Professor James Heckman has compiled groundbreaking research into the economic and societal benefits of high-quality early education. According to Heckman’s research, high-quality early education positively encourages social skills and cognitive skills while also lowering crime rates and increasing later-in-life income. The Heckman curve shows more investment in early education has a higher rate of economic return than later-in-life education. ITB
Courtesy photo
Laura Gómez
Arizona Mirror
Arizona voters will get the final say on Gov. Doug Ducey’s legacy income tax cut package that was signed into law earlier this year, after a coalition of public education groups successfully forced a public vote in 2022.
The Secretary of State’s Office announced Friday that the referendum effort gathered more than the 118,823 signatures needed to block the tax cuts from going into effect unless voters approve them next year. It will be called Proposition 307, said Sophia Solis, spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office.
Ducey’s income tax cuts, which serve as his legacy policy achievement during his two terms as governor, dramatically reform Arizona’s tax system. Instead of a progressively graduated system with a maximum rate of 4.5%, Arizona will shift to two income tax rates: 2.55% for people who earn $27,272 annually and 2.98% for those who earn more than that. The tax law changes in Senate Bill 1828 also create a single 2.5% rate as soon as 2023 if state revenues hit certain triggers.
Legislative budget analysts concluded that it would cost the state about $1 billion annually. And while all taxpayers would see a reduction in income taxes, the wealthy receive the largest benefit: the poorest Arizonans would save $1 a year while the wealthiest would keep an average of nearly $350,000. The typical Arizona family would save about $42 a year, on average.
The tax cuts were designed to shield the wealthy Arizonans from the Invest in Education Act that voters approved in 2020. That voter-approved measure, also known as Proposition 208, imposes a 3.5% surcharge on income greater than $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for couples, with the money directed to public schools to increase teacher pay and boost overall funding. Whether Prop. 208 will ever go into effect is doubtful: The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in August that it’s subject to the Arizona Constitution’s spending limits for K-12 education, setting the stage for a new trial court ruling that is expected by many to invalidate the measure, though the law’s proponents believe it will ultimately be upheld.
The legislative analysis shows that Arizona families making less than $100,000 a year will see single-digit percentage reductions in the taxes they pay, while the wealthy reap much larger savings. Families making more than $200,000 will save more than 22% of their tax bill. Those savings jump to more than 40% for households earning more than $1 million a year.
The coalition that passed the Invest in Education Act in 2020 came together this year under the name Invest in Arizona to block the tax cuts. Arizona’s constitution allows for citizens to refer new laws to the ballot for public approval if they gather enough signatures within 90 days of the legislative session’s end, and Invest in Arizona submitted 215,787 petition signatures.
“By passing these sneaky budget schemes, this small group of politicians is helping their rich friends avoid paying their fair share to public schools. Worst of all, they are trying to silence voters,” said Rebecca Gau, executive director of Stand for Children Arizona, one of the Invest in Arizona groups.
There are other hurdles the Invest in Arizona campaign must overcome before the referral can go to the ballot. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a conservative advocacy group, has filed two lawsuits challenging the referendum. The first lawsuit argues that the tax cuts are not subject to citizen referenda, and is awaiting the judge’s ruling following oral arguments on Nov. 5. The second suit, which is on hold pending the outcome of the first case, challenges the validity of the referendum campaign’s signatures.
Initially, the Invest in Arizona campaign sought to stop three laws from taking effect this year: SB1828; Senate Bill 1827, which caps the tax rate at 4.5% for those with incomes greater than $250,000 for individuals or $500,000 for joint filers; and Senate Bill 1783, which creates a new business individual income tax with a 4.5% flax rate that some taxpayers can opt into — and any taxpayers who do so would be exempt from the Invest in Education surcharge.
The coalition didn’t submit signatures to block SB1827, and the effort to refer SB1783 to the ballot failed, missing the threshold by 18,461 signatures. ITB
BUSINESS CALENDAR
Friday, Dec. 3
• The Tucson LGBT Chamber holds Drag the Halls Holiday Party & Annual Awards. Details: 5:30-8 p.m.; Arte Bella, 340 N. 4th Ave.; tucsonlgbtchamber.org.
Monday, Dec. 6
• Oro Valley Toastmasters meets. Details: 6:15 p.m. (on Zoom); https://2854329. toastmastersclubs.org or 314-8008.
Tuesday, Dec. 7
• The Rotary Club of Marana meets (weekly). Details: 7 a.m.; Northwest Fire Dept., 5125 W. Camino de Fuego (in person first 3 Tuesdays of the month); via Zoom (first 4 Tuesdays of the month); maranarotary.org or text 520-909-9162 for virtual meeting information. • The Arizona Commerce Authority offers a boot camp webinar on Small Business End of Year Checklist with a panel of experts. Details: 9 a.m.; azcommerce.zoom.us. • Southern Arizona Score offers a webinar on What’s Next for Small Businesses as Covid Capital Relief Funds Wind Down. Details: 11 a.m.; southernarizona.score.org.
Wednesday, Dec. 8
• Arizona Sands Club meets with local business spotlight, education and networking. Details: 9-10 a.m.; UA Football Stadium, 565 N. Cherry Ave., 5th Floor; 520621-7674 or clubcorp.com.
Thursday, Dec. 9
• The Arizona Commerce Authority offers a boot camp webinar on The Basics of Bookkeeping. Details: 9 a.m.; azcommerce.zoom.us. • Southern Arizona Score offers a webinar on Conversion-Boosting Strategies: Simple Changes that Can Help Grow Online Sales. Details: 11 a.m.; southernarizona.score.org. • The Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce holds a Member Appreciation Holiday Party. Details: 5-7 p.m.; Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte; free admission for members plus 1 guest; bring a package of new socks to benefit the Amphi Foundation; 297-2191.
Tuesday, Dec. 14
• Southern Arizona Score offers a webinar on The New Must Have Marketing Strategy for 2022. Details: 11 a.m.; southernarizona. score.org.
Wednesday, Dec. 15
• The Greater Vail Area Chamber holds its monthly breakfast meeting. Details: 7-9 a.m.; UA Tech Park Event Center, 9030 S Rita Rd.; $25, $20 members; greatervailchamber.com. • The Tucson Metro Chamber holds a Legislative Reception. Details: 4-6 p.m.; Tucson Metro Chamber office, 212 E. Broadway Blvd.; tucsonmetrochamber.org. • The Marana Chamber of Commerce holds the Merriest Marana Mixer. Details: 4:30-7 p.m.; Glover Ranch, 13400 W. Twin Peaks Rd.; $10, members free; 520-682-4314.
EMAIL DETAILS FOR YOUR BIZ EVENTS TO SHERYL@TUCSONLOCALMEDIA.COM
Thursday, Dec. 16
• Southern Arizona Score offers webinar Google My Business for Home-Based Business Owners - Get Found Without Using Your Home Address. Details: 11 a.m.; southernarizona. score.org. ITB
Send your biz events to calendar editor Sheryl Kocher at sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com.
Making Life Great®in Tucson!
Corporation Commission defends ethics policy on campaign cash, recusal to legislature
Jeremy Duda
Arizona Mirror
The Corporation Commission rejected legislative staff’s assertion that its ethics policy restricting campaign contributions from regulated utilities is illegal, arguing that it doesn’t violate state law or the Arizona Constitution.
At the request of Sen. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, the Legislative Council in September examined the commission’s ethics policy, and found a number of alleged legal deficiencies.
Most notably, Legislative Council concluded that a provision of the ethics policy limiting commissioners’ ability to vote on matters involving utilities that have provided funding for their campaigns, overstepped the commission’s legal authority by prohibiting its members from participating in their official duties. The policy may also violate the First Amendment’s free speech protections, which includes political spending, Legislative Council said.
The commission asked its legal counsel to review the finding, and reached a different conclusion. The ethics policy does not bar them from participating in official commission activities, said the commissioners’ response to Legislative Council, and does not violate state law or the state constitution.
With the exception of some circumstances for traditionally funded candidates who don’t run using the state’s Clean Elections system of public campaign funding, recusal is voluntary and up to the discretion of each individual commissioner, the response read. Commission legal counsel says the only time recusal would be mandatory is when a non-Clean Elections candidate unknowingly accepts a prohibited contribution and is either unable or unwilling to return it.
“In restoring the public trust, there may be circumstances that warrant recusal,” read the commissioners’ Nov. 3 letter to Gray, Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye, and Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford. “Public confidence in the Commission is eroded if the public perceives that a Commissioner is not acting impartially.”
Most commission candidates run using the Clean Elections system, which requires candidates to collect a minimum number of $5 qualifying contributions from voters in order to receive a lump sum of public funding for their campaigns. Four of the five commissioners ran as Clean Elections candidates.
The commissioners noted that the code of ethics was first enacted in 2017. The policy, and subsequent amendments in 2019 related to campaign spending, were enacted in response to high-profile and controversial campaign spending by Arizona Public Service parent company Pinnacle West in 2014 and 2016. The commissioners also noted that the bribery indictment of a former commissioner, who was later acquitted, also helped prompt the creation of the ethics code.
“An independent, fair, and impartial Commission is indispensable to this state,” the commissioners said in their letter. “Because the Commission’s jurisdiction touches upon numerous aspects of the day-to-day life for the people of Arizona, the Commission constantly strives to ensure its conduct instills the greatest public confidence in its independence, impartiality, integrity and competence.”
Gray, whose inquiry prompted the back-andforth between the Corporation Commission and Legislative Council, isn’t happy about the commission’s response. But he sees no way for him to challenge the ethics policy, either in the legislature or the courts.
“What I’ve been told is basically there’s nothing I can do unless there’s somebody with standing (to sue). So if I was running for Corp Comm I might be able to sue them,” Gray told the Arizona Mirror. “I think their decision is wrong. I think it’s inappropriate. But again, as it comes down with so many legal issues, if you don’t have standing there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Gray and other critics of the ethics policy’s intent to curb campaign spending by Pinnacle West may find solace in the fact that the policy applies not just to regulated utilities but to others with business before the commission as well. It applies to any contributions or outside spending by anyone involved in a generic docket or rulemaking decision before the commission who is a registered lobbyist or represented by some who’s registered with the commission. That would apply to non-utilities, such as solar companies that have spent heavily in commission races in recent years.
Commissioners must publicly disclose the spending, but except for the narrow circumstances involving privately funded candidates, they aren’t required to recuse themselves. ITB
