ESAs; enrollment; required disclosures; prohibition

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text includes a new subsection D regarding legal proceedings and the burden of proof on the state, which was not included in the candidate explanation but is part of the official law.

HB2360: Rules for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts

This bill clarifies that government agencies cannot control nonpublic or home schools and stops these schools from asking parents about their scholarship account details as a condition of enrollment.

What This Bill Does

• States that no government agency can exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school or homeschool under this chapter.
• Clarifies that a qualified school accepting payment is not an agent of the state or federal government.
• Requires that schools do not have to change their beliefs, practices, admissions policies, or curriculum to accept students using Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.
• Prohibits schools from requiring parents or students to disclose if they are enrolled in the Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts program as a condition of enrollment.
• Prohibits schools from requiring disclosure of the amount deposited in an Arizona empowerment scholarship account as a condition of enrollment.

Who It Names or Affects

• Nonpublic schools and homeschools
• Parents using Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts

Terms To Know

Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA)

A program where parents receive funds to pay for their child's education at a qualified school.

Qualified School

A nonpublic or home school that accepts payments from the scholarship account program.

Limits and Unknowns

• The official text does not list an effective date for when these rules begin.
• This bill only amends section 15-2404 and may not address other parts of education law.

Official Summary Text

HB2360 - ESAs; enrollment; required disclosures; prohibition

Current Bill Text

HB2360 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
ESAs; enrollment; required disclosures; prohibition

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2360

Introduced by

Representatives
Crews: Aguilar, Contreras P, Gutierrez, Liguori, Travers, Villegas

AN
ACT

amending section 15-2404, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-2404, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-2404.

State control over nonpublic schools; prohibition; application

A. This chapter does not
permit

allow
any government agency to exercise control or
supervision over any nonpublic school or homeschool.

B. A qualified school that accepts a payment from a
parent pursuant to this chapter is not an agent of the state or federal
government.

C. A qualified school shall not be required to alter
its creed, practices, admissions policy or curriculum in order to accept
students whose parents pay tuition or fees from an
Arizona
empowerment
scholarship account pursuant to this chapter in order to participate as a
qualified school.
A qualified school may not require
a parent or a qualified student to disclose either of the following as a
condition of enrollment in the qualified school:

1. Whether the qualified student is
enrolled in the Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts program.

2. The amount that is deposited in
the qualified student's Arizona empowerment scholarship account pursuant to
section 15-2402, subsection C.

D. In any legal proceeding challenging the
application of this chapter to a qualified school, the state bears the burden
of establishing that the law is necessary and does not impose any undue burden
on qualified schools.
END_STATUTE