By Jeremy Duda | AZ Mirror
The Arizona Supreme Court found that several provisions of the 2022 budget, including a controversial ban on face mask mandates in K-12 schools, violate a provision of the state constitution requiring individual bills to encompass a single subject.
The ruling will likely bring about a seismic shift in the way lawmakers craft future budgets.
Less than two hours after it heard oral arguments in the case on Tuesday, the justices unanimously upheld a trial court ruling that several budget bills violated a section of the Arizona Constitution known as the “single-subject rule.” That rule mandates that legislation embrace “one general subject” and that the subject be clear in the title of the bill.
“The Legislature can still pass a ban on face masks, eliminate critical race theory from the public school curriculum, and prevent universities from requiring COVID vaccines. The Supreme Court did not hold that these measures are unconstitutional. Instead, the Court held that those measures need to be voted on independently. They cannot be tacked on to an unrelated budget bill.”
–Logan Elia, Rose Law Group litigation attorney and partner
