Judge dismisses proposal limiting Arizona teachers' unions

HCR 2040 also would have blocked school district employees from using a union in contract negotiations, meaning employees would have needed to negotiate their contracts individually.

The proposed constitutional amendment additionally would have stopped school districts from deducting union membership dues from their employees’ paychecks and prohibited school district employees from using public money or resources during work hours for union activities.

By passing HCR 2040, lawmakers put the proposed constitutional amendment on the general election ballot. But it came off the ballot Wednesday when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Como threw out the proposal. He said HCR 2040 violated the Arizona Constitution’s Separate Amendment Rule, which requires proposed constitutional amendments to be about one topic.

The judge in Maricopa County, which is home to the state capital of Phoenix, said HCR 2040 “flatly prohibits the State of Arizona or any local government from contracting with any labor union.”

Como ruled “no ambiguity” existed in the phrase "this state or any political subdivision of this state may not negotiate with a labor organization."

“While other provisions of HCR 2040 address school districts, those provisions involve the use of public monies and resources to support labor unions. When the topic shifts to contracting with labor unions, the language takes a broader turn and applies to the state and ‘any’ political subdivision,” Como said.

The judge rejected the argument of Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, and House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Surprise, that the Separate Amendment Rule did “not apply to ballot referendum bills passed by the Legislature.”

Republicans have majorities in both houses of the Arizona Legislature. The Center Square reached out to Kim Quintero, the communications director for the Arizona Senate Republicans, but she declined to comment on the case. The Center Square also attempted to contact Andrew Wilder, the communications director for the Arizona House Republicans, but he did not respond before publication time.

Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, told The Center Square on Wednesday by email that “[i]n their rush to attack public school teachers, Warren Petersen and Steve Montenegro wrote a horrible initiative that would have stripped every public servant from having the right to demand fair treatment and fair wages.”

“It plainly violated the constitution, and the court was right to block it from the ballot,” said Mayes, who is running against Petersen in the Nov. 3 attorney general race.

House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Phoenix, called HCR 2040 “an ill-conceived Republican attack on teachers, firefighters, police officers and all public-sector employees who want to join a union. “

“The judge was absolutely correct in ruling it unconstitutional. The fact that the Republican politicians not only passed the unconstitutional measure but defended it in court underscores why voters will defeat them at the ballot box this November,” he told The Center Square on Wednesday by email.

Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia said as Arizona’s “educator shortage reaches crisis level with no end in sight, our elected leaders spent precious hours of this year's legislative session cooking up HCR 2040 to target educators, police and firefighters and undermine our ability to advocate for ourselves and our students.”

“The Superior Court struck down HCR 2040, but the only way to protect educators is by changing leadership and putting pro-education candidates in office," she said.

AEA is the largest teachers' union in Arizona.