Republican Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey has taken a strong stand against mask mandates for children in schools. He has allocated $163 million out of the $4.2 billion in pandemic relief aid given to Arizona by the federal government to provide extra funding to schools who do not impose mask mandates. This program is investing $1,800 per student in public and charter schools. A separate $10 million allocation has gone to fund vouchers of up to $7,000 per student to attend a different school district that does not have any pandemic “constraints.”

The Treasury Department claims Governor Ducey violated the intent of the relief funds that were part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) stimulus package signed into law in March 2021. The department is not only threatening to sue Arizona to recoup the funds it believes were misused, but also can hold back another installment of relief money that the state is supposedly scheduled to receive later this year.

Governor Ducey has fired back at the administration with the defense of state’s rights. He asserts that he is giving the people of Arizona more freedom in how education will be run moving forward in the pandemic. He wants to give parents the ability to decide whether their children spend their days in an environment where masks are required and learning is in-person. Funds that allow students to transfer school districts allow for this freedom.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department to allege that it is overstepping its discretion in controlling how states can allocate federal relief funds. The lawsuit is now pending in the U.S. District Court.

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reserves rights to states that aren’t defined as exclusive to the federal government. This battle is over state sovereignty and how much discretion states have in spending federal aid. In the case of the $1.9 trillion ARP, $350 billion was reversed for all state and local governments to recover from the pandemic. Although the law specifies that states may not use these relief funds to pay of debts or cut state income taxes, it clearly states that funds can be used for public health measures. Whether or not Governor Ducey’s use of some of the funds to expand educational opportunities during the pandemic are constitutional will be decided in the courts.

Governor Ducey believes students have fallen behind in learning during the pandemic: “When it comes to education, President Biden wants to continue focusing on masks. In Arizona, we’re going to focus on math and getting kids caught up after a year of learning loss.”

Given Biden’s historically low approval numbers, the administration’s credibility on handling the pandemic has eroded. It would be wise for the administration to advocate for states to have more discretion with pandemic regulations. Every time Biden inserts himself into an issue, he further divides the country he was elected to unite.