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Local family’s plight fails to bridge partisan divide BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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wice in the last two months, Kendra Riley appeared before legislative committees to implore for the passage of a bill that she feels could ease the burden for parents who endure the heartbreaking ordeal that befell her family in March 2020. The Ahwatukee mom had appeared on behalf of SB1163, – promoted by the Goldwater Institute as the “Right to Try 2.0." It would give parents the right to obtain individualized experimental treatments in this country instead of forcing them to do what Kendra and her husband David had to do two years ago: Spend more than $500,000 to go to Italy to try to save two daugh-
ters’ lives. But her plea fell on Senate Democrats' deaf ears. Only Ahwatukee Sen. Sean Bowie broke ranks with his caucus and was the only member of his party to vote in favor of the bill. Tempe Democratic Sen. Juan Mendez didn’t vote – nor did Republican Sens. Kelly Townsend of Mesa and Michelle Rita-Ugenti of Scottsdale. While SB1163 passed 16-113 on Valentines Day and two weeks later was recommended for approval by two House committes – where only Republicans again voted for it – it has yet to come up for a final floor vote. The Rileys’ plight is the genesis for Right to Try 2 – which, if passed, would make Arizona
At 3 years of age, Olivia Riley of Ahwatukee is in hospice care as the result of a very rare terminal brain disease. Her mother, Kendra Riley, appeared before state Senate and House panels in February and March to press for the Legislature’s passage a bill maing it easier to seek experimental treatments for diseases like Olivia’s. But aside from Ahwatukee Sen. Sean Bowier, Senate and see KENDRA page 14 House Dems ignored her pleas. (Courtesy of the Goldwater Institute)
Funding overhaul clouds Kyrene's budget prep . 32
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor AND HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
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espite a projected enrollment drop of 577 students in 2022-23 and the pressures of inflation, Kyrene School District anticipates that its General Fund revenue will total only $40,000 less than the current fiscal year. But what may complicate work on a final budget is a last-minute effort by some Republican legislators to overhaul the whole system
of school funding. District Chief Financial Officer Chris Hermann last week laid out a preview of district funding for the Governing Board, stating he is projecting General Fund revenue to total $107.4 million in 2022-23. He noted that one of the big impacts on revenue is the historic decline in school age population that has been affecting Kyrene and Tempe Union High School District for nearly a decade. Kyrene in some ways is feeling the bigger brunt because, as Hermann put it, “the size of our incoming kindergarten class is dramatically lower than the size of our eighth-grade class
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that is leaving the district as those students are promoted on high school. And that situation is what’s driving our enrollment down from the previous year.” The factors affecting enrollment include a 19% decline in births between 2008-11 in Maricopa County that was followed by another 16% drop in the last six years. “The overall percentage of homeowners between the ages of 25 and 44 has dropped from 52.2% to 34.5% over the last 20 years,” he said. Likewise, the overall percentage of chil-
see KYRENE page 15
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