OPINION — One of the more stark examples of the dysfunction in state government is the failure of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and legislative Republicans to agree on a replacement for Proposition 123.
Prop 123 was drafted to settle a lawsuit filed by a coalition of school districts alleging that the state had failed to make mandatory annual inflation adjustments to operational funding. While the state had an argument — the inflation adjustment was skipped in some years but made up in later ones — the plaintiffs were prevailing as the case made its way through the courts.
The heart of the settlement was an increase in the annual distribution to schools from the state land trust from 2.5% of its value to 6.9%. Since the distribution formula is set forth in the state constitution, the increased draw was submitted to voters. Voter approval in 2016 also triggered an additional $625 million in general fund appropriations from other sources for K-12 education over the 10-year life of the proposition.
