Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee has announced reforms to the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) system to better protect taxpayer dollars.
ESAs are school vouchers that help parents pay for schools they believe are most suitable for their children, and Arizona prides itself on its reputation for being school-choice-friendly.
However, in August, evidence emerged that approximately $124 million in ESA funds was spent on items such as luxury goods, appliances, and toys, rendering inadequate oversight of ESA funds.
Despite this, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne recently pushed back against outlets reporting that 20% of ESA purchases are fraudulent, calling it "outrageous and reckless reporting" that is "completely false."
Nevertheless, Yee has said that the Treasury is working with the ESA marketplace vendor platform to ensure that it is both efficient and regulated to prevent such fraud, encouraging providers to share their innovations, including modern platform design, automation, and AI-driven tools, which could strengthen Arizona's ESA program.
"It is imperative that the State of Arizona's ESA platform vendor operates effectively, provides a user‑friendly system for Arizona families, and verifies that expenditures comply with Arizona law," said Yee in a press release. "Today I directed the Arizona State Treasurer's Office to publish a formal Request for Information (RFI) to invite potential vendors to share input on new and existing systems, capabilities, and technology platforms to support Arizona's growing ESA program."
As AZ Treasurer, Yee emphasized her duty to safeguard taxpayer dollars, saying, "The goal of this RFI is to identify the platform best suited to serve the 102,000 Arizona families currently benefiting from one of the nation's premier ESA programs."
"If there is a financial platform, or updates to the current platform, that can provide families with ESA program funds efficiently and identify any misspending or misuse, then Arizona taxpayers deserve to use that system."
