As the 2026 legislative session closes, here is the honest tally — real victories, hard setbacks, and the fight that now moves to the ballot box.
When the gavel fell this month to close Arizona’s 2026 legislative session, my first thought was of you, the CAP faithful—parents who drove to the Capitol on a workday, pastors who prayed over our committee hearings, neighbors who logged in to sign their support when it mattered most. You showed up. And because you did, Arizona is a better place for families to flourish today than when this session began.
So let me give you the honest, hopeful picture: three good bills are now law, five more cleared the Legislature only to meet the Governor’s veto pen, and the defining fight of the year is moving to the one place no veto can reach—the ballot box in November.
Standing for life
Some evils have to be named plainly, and the buying and selling of human beings is one of them. This session we named it—and acted. On June 4, Governor Hobbs signed HB 2720 into law, making the purchase of sex a felony in Arizona, setting separate penalties for buyers and sellers, and funding services for the survivors who need a way out. Arizona just told the traffickers, in the clearest possible terms, that our sons and daughters are not for sale.
A second pro-life victory followed. SB 1253, signed June 19, strengthens Arizona’s Safe Haven law so that a parent in crisis can safely and immediately entrust a newborn to the hospital right after delivery—instead of being discharged and returning later—a quiet, second-chance promise that life will always have a refuge here.
We did not win every battle. HB 2830 would have brought age-appropriate human-development instruction into our science classrooms, with a clear parental opt-out, while keeping the abortion industry off the syllabus. It passed the Legislature and drew a veto. Good ideas have a way of returning, and this one will.
Protecting marriage and family
Here the people’s representatives did their part, and the veto pen had the last word—for now. Three bills cleared the Legislature to strengthen the family, and all three were vetoed.
HB 2249, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, would have ended government-driven secret social transitioning, opened a child’s school and medical records to the parents who love them, and given families real remedies when their rights are ignored.
SB 1095 would have protected children from irreversible procedures to alter their sex characteristics and blocked taxpayer dollars from paying for them.
And HB 2311 would have brought honesty to artificial intelligence—requiring AI platforms to disclose they are not human, adding real safeguards for children, and blocking AI-generated sexual material before it can spread.
These are not fringe ideas. They are the commonsense beliefs of most Arizona parents, and a single veto does not settle them. We will be back—with a broader coalition and the same resolve.
Defending religious freedom
Our first freedom gained ground this session. HB 4117, which was signed into law on June 22 with bipartisan support, makes it a crime to block the doors of a place of worship or to disrupt a religious service. Faith is now protected at the church door.
We had hoped for more.
SB 1741 would have established a clear statewide framework for released-time education, letting students step away for off-campus religious instruction during the school day with their parents’ written consent. It, too, was vetoed. The freedom to worship advanced; the freedom to study one’s faith during the school day will come back for another round.
The fight a veto cannot stop
Here is why hope is not naive. When one office turns back the work of the people’s representatives, the people themselves still have the final say—at the ballot box. And that is exactly where educational freedom now goes on offense.
Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program is working—beautifully. Today, more than 102,000 students are enrolled, each receiving about $7,000 for tuition, tutoring, and supplies—roughly half of what the public system spends per child. Seventy-three percent of Arizona parents support the program, and one in five ESA students is a child with special needs, finally receiving an education built to fit.
That very success is why ESAs now face the most sophisticated, well-funded opposition we have ever seen. One ballot petition is now circulating—driven by the teachers’ union and fueled by out-of-state money, falsely dressed in the language of “accountability.” Read the fine print and the truth is plain: it would impose an income cap that purges families already enrolled, seize the unspent savings parents have carefully set aside, and bury private schools in new state mandates. From the first day petitions were circulated for this harmful initiative, our message to every Arizona family has been simple and firm—Decline to Sign.
Last week, we explained our support for a potential deal that would keep this harmful attack on ESA families off the ballot. That deal never came to pass. Now it is time for a different strategy—it is time to move from defense to offense.
Two legislative referrals now head to your ballot.
HCR 2048 is a shield for ESA families: it guarantees military families their funding and voids any measure that breaks that promise. SCR 1032 allocates sixty percent of every district’s operating budget to direct instructional expenses, so more of each dollar actually reaches a student. Our own Peter Gentala testified in support of HCR 2048 on June 12, and the conviction he carried into that hearing is the one we will carry to the voters: let the people of Arizona decide.
And on that same ballot in November, Arizona families have a chance to secure another protection that should have never been left in doubt. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may reserve girls’ and women’s sports for female athletes—a decisive victory for families who have fought to keep competition fair. This November, the Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act gives the people of Arizona the chance to settle the question themselves, writing fairness directly into Arizona’s Constitution. (Read the full story here.)
This is what hope looks like with its sleeves rolled up. We won real victories this session, and we met real setbacks—and not one of them changes our direction: toward a state where every parent is free to raise the children God has entrusted to them. The work is not finished. But where a veto can stop a bill, it cannot stop a movement, and the inheritance we are securing is worth every call, every prayer, and every signature withheld.
Thank you for standing with us. The best of Arizona is still ahead.
For Arizona’s families,
Leisa Brug
Vice President of Advocacy, Center for Arizona Policy
A Brief Pause on Five Minutes For Families
Five Minutes for Families is taking its customary July break. We will be back in August with information, updates and encouragement as we continue standing for Arizona families.