By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — There is a new chapter in the fight over unions in Arizona. A Maricopa County judge ruled that a ballot measure that restricts teacher and employee unions is unconstitutional, according to court paperwork released Tuesday.
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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory S. Como wrote that he agreed with the Arizona Education Association that the ballot measure, , illegally combined two issues into one.
Como said the proposal banned school districts from using public resources to support labor unions and banned the state and local governments from contracting with any labor union, pointing to section G in the measure that said, “this state or any political subdivisions of the state.”
GOP leadership argued that, read in context, the phrase applies only to school districts contracting with labor unions.
But Como said “any employee representation organization” that deals with employees and does not mention teachers’ unions or school employee associations.
Arizona Senate Democrats praised the decision. “Its misleading language threatened not only teachers, but police, firefighters, and other public employee unions too,” they said in a social media post.
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🚨 BREAKING: Judge rules HCR2040 unconstitutional and kicks it off the November ballot.
We said HCR 2040 was unconstitutional. Today, the court agreed. Its misleading language threatened not only teachers, but police, firefighters, and other public employee unions too.#Senate… pic.twitter.com/Tf5hdRg36h
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) July 28, 2026
Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia said in an emailed statement that Republicans wasted time passing HCR 2040 instead of focusing on fixing education.
“While our state’s educator shortage reaches crisis level with no end in sight, our elected leaders spent precious hours of this year’s legislative session cooking up HCR2040 to target educators, police and firefighters and undermine our ability to advocate for ourselves and our students. The Superior Court struck down HCR2040, but the only way to protect educators is by changing leadership and putting pro-education candidates in office,” Garcia said in an emailed statement.
It is unclear whether Republicans will appeal the ruling.
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