A legislative panel approved a special audit into the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind for alleged financial mismanagement, with only Republicans knowing what auditors will investigate. 

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee met Tuesday morning to discuss the proposed special audit, which was requested by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, after he said a whistleblower had come forward with allegations against the agency. 

Several members of the committee were not privy to details of the allegations. Hoffman said he and other Republican leaders that did have knowledge of the allegations want to protect the whistleblower and ensure the audit proceeds without interference. No Democrats on the committee were informed of any details of the allegations. 

“It’s not an ideal scenario to tip your hand. No, I am not prepared to provide those to the minority,” Hoffman said. “Quite frankly, I don’t trust most of you.”

Hoffman said the allegations revolved around “systemic financial mismanagement” that has impacted service delivery to children enrolled at the school. 

Republican leaders said they hope the audit doesn’t reveal any wrongdoing, but the allegations warrant an audit. 

Auditor General Lindsey Perry estimated the total cost of the audit would be somewhere in between $1.2 million to $2 million. 

The recent state budget passed by lawmakers appropriated an additional $2 million of funding to Perry’s office that hasn’t been used yet but Perry said could be applied for this audit. 

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, said he was made aware of the allegations on Nov. 22. 

“They are concerning to me. I’ve worked with ASDB in the past in the role as a budget director (in former Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration) and I can tell you even my budget analysts, when we’ve engaged with ASDB, it has been a troubling exercise,” Gress said. “I hope these allegations turn out to not be irrelevant, because they’re bad.”

Democrats requested to enter into executive session to discuss the allegations, but Gress said he wanted to protect the integrity of the investigation and would share any confidential reports the committee needed in briefings after the audit is completed. 

Rep. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, said he was also unaware of specific details of the allegations.

Several Republicans in the Legislature have scrutinized the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind in recent years.

Instead of a typical eight-year continuation, Hoffman proposed only a two-year continuation in 2023 and Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said Republicans had become aware of some “alarming things” about the agency.

Other lawmakers negotiated for a four-year continuation, but Democrats and some Republicans preferred to continue the agency for eight years. 

“Despite some Republicans having a strange obsession with this school, the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind serves our students well, and I’m grateful to them,” Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, told the Arizona Capitol Times. “I’m also very disappointed that the ESA program does not have the same scrutiny that public district schools do, and I hope to see more audits now that fraud has been proven.

Attorney General Kris Mayes Mayes announced two indictments Dec. 2 of out-of-state residents accused of defrauding the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program of $110,000. Democrats have called for more oversight of the ESA program since it expanded eligibility to all K-12 students. 

ASDB Superintendent Annette Reichman said the school is prepared to cooperate with the audit despite not knowing what potential wrongdoing has allegedly occurred.

“I don’t even know how to respond appropriately because I don’t know what the allegations are,” Reichman told lawmakers. 

Since President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy heading an incoming Department of Government Efficiency committee, many Republicans at the Arizona Capitol have called for similar efforts of government agency oversight at the state level.

“One of the most important federal agencies that we’ve seen come to mind is the DOGE in regards to holding our agencies accountable,” said Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson. “People want to know how things are being spent.”

Wadsack sponsored a bill in 2023 that would have required ASDB to enroll other students with disabilities that weren’t limited to blindness and deafness. ASDB opposed that bill and Reichman told The Arizona Capitol Times at the time she suspected the opposition to an eight-year continuation to be connected with the failure of Wadsack’s bill. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, said Tuesday the audit is a sleight to ASDB and the Democratic caucus.

“This is a violation of ethics. I believe this is a terrible transgression of the majority party to withhold information from the entirety of the Democratic caucus,” Epstein said.

Later during the committee hearing, the committee entered executive session to discuss confidential details of an audit that examined emergency operations planning at specific schools. 

Rep. Charles Lucking, D-Phoenix, said he would have liked to discuss the audit details in executive session. 

“This to me is broken government,” Lucking said. “Representatives and leaders are not given the full story. If you want to talk about a rubber stamp, if I voted yes on this, that would be a rubber stamp because I’ve been given nothing. I, too, am kind of shocked.”

Gress said he understood Democrats’ frustration that they didn’t feel like they had enough information to cast their vote, but he didn’t intend to disrespect any member. 

“I already know that ASDB was contacting members of this committee to get more details about what these allegations were, which is precisely why we have to keep them confidential,” Gress said.