PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has dismissed Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s lawsuit challenging Biden administration’s demands that the state stop sending millions in federal COVID-19 aid money to schools that don’t require masks have or are close by due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
The state filed suit earlier this year after the US Treasury Department demanded that Ducey either restructure the $163 million program to remove restrictions it believes undermine public health recommendations or get a refund request.
The Treasury Department also wanted to make changes to a $10 million program Ducey created that gives private school fees to parents if their children’s schools have mask mandates.
In a ruling earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan concluded it was reasonable for the Biden administration to say the money could not be spent on efforts that would undermine compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. The judge said a program that requires non-compliance with guidelines could exacerbate the pandemic and create more negative effects, which goes against the purpose of the emergency fund.
While Ducey argued that the US Rescue Plan Act was not clear in the terms it imposed on the use of the aid money, the judge agreed with the Biden administration’s argument that the permitted uses for the funds under the law — and the permission for the Ministry of Finance to issue appropriate regulations – informing the state of the conditions attached to accepting the money.
Ducey’s lawyers have said in court records that the governor will appeal the ruling. Ducey spokesman CJ Karamargin said on Saturday the governor’s office was reviewing the decision.
The lawsuit said the Treasury Department, in its own right and without legal authority, imposed restrictions on how money Arizona receives under the American Rescue Plan Act. It asked a court to rule that the Treasury Department’s rules are illegal and permanently block enforcement and demand that it repay the money spent on the two programs.
The Treasury Department began demanding that Ducey change the programs in October. It was part of a concerted effort to force Arizona and some other Republican-led states that resisted mask mandates or used pandemic funding to advance their own agendas to end those practices.
Ducey rejected Treasury’s request the following month, and the Biden administration followed suit with a formal demand that it no longer use the money for the disputed programs or face refund demands or withholding of additional money it would receive under Biden’s COVID-19 Relief Act.
These are two state programs that the Republican governor created last summer to help schools and students.
Arizona’s Education Plus-Up Grant program provides $163 million in funding to schools in higher-income areas that received less than $1,800 per student in federal virus aid. Districts that require face coverings or that are closed due to virus outbreaks are not eligible.
Another program, the COVID-19 Educational Recovery Benefit Program, provides up to $7,000 for parents if their child’s school requires face coverings or quarantine after exposure. It lets parents use the money for private school lessons or other education expenses, and the design reflects the state’s existing school voucher program.
Ducey created the programs in part to increase pressure on school districts with mask mandates or other COVID-19 restrictions, saying they hurt children and parents who had endured more than a year of school closures, distance learning and other restrictions.
