Rep. Steve Huffman, R-26, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is making another attempt to get a handle on the costs school districts incur to address desegregation and remediation of racial discrimination.

Currently, state law allows the affected districts to levy a property tax. The levy is capped at fiscal 2002 levels and the cap expires at the end of June. Nineteen districts levy such a tax.

Last year Mr. Huffman introduced H2357 and H2358 with the main intent of shifting the tax from a primary tax to a secondary tax so that a levy would have to be approved by a majority of voters in the district rather than a majority of the members of the district governing board.

The bills ran into stiff opposition from Democrats, who said the bills would undo “years of work on desegregation efforts.”

H2358 passed the House, but was amended in the Senate so that it addressed health care coverage.

just one vote, 31-22, in the House and failed in the Senate, 12-15.

Now, Mr. Huffman has four bills – H2265, H2266, H2267 and H2268 – that he says offer two options on dealing with desegregation costs.

The options are offered in H2268, which extends the cap two years, and H2266, which, with a strike-everything amendment, allows the 19 districts currently affected to continue doing things as they are now. H2266 would extend the cap indefinitely.

Under H2266, any district that enters into a desegregation agreement after June 30 would have to seek funding from the Legislature through the Arizona Department of Education.

His committee endorsed H2266 and H2268 on Feb. 24, and they are ready for floor action.

H2265, which was also approved on Feb. 24 by the House Ways and Means Committee, repeals the ability of affected districts to levy the tax for capital purposes, such as buildings and equipment.

“We have Students First to take care of that,” says Mr. Huffman.

H2267, which was passed by the House Education Committee on Feb. 19 and changes a biennial report on desegregation spending to an annual report. —