r/EastValleyUnite

I live in Mesa and write a policy newsletter. This is my own analysis. Sources at the bottom.

H.R. 1 (better known as 'The Big Beautiful Bill') changed SNAP eligibility and pushed part of the program's cost onto states. Arizona has lost roughly 437,000 recipients since July 2025, the biggest drop of any state in the US. DES reports caseload by county every month, but there's no official figure for Mesa or for any Arizona city. So I estimated one for all 397 places in the state by splitting each county's reported caseload using Census SNAP household shares. These are estimates, but they are based on real county-level and state-level data.

https://preview.redd.it/b8cix9h2d1kh1.png?width=1072&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9ec28991b5bad2889d8db22b074e006b66784ca

The first figure is the map. Mesa is one of the larger blue circles in Maricopa County. An estimated 25,000 Mesa residents lost food assistance between July 2025 and June 2026, which is 4.9% of the city's population. About 9.9% of Mesa residents participated in the SNAP program last July and 4.9% this June. About 1 in 10 people here, down to about 1 in 20.

The second figure ranks places by how many people lost benefits. Mesa is third in the state behind Phoenix at 114,637 and Tucson at 49,936, ahead of Glendale, Chandler, and Yuma. Each bar splits adults and children. Roughly 11,000 of Mesa's are children. Statewide the child figure is over 200,000.

https://preview.redd.it/x9pbnxcdd1kh1.png?width=1220&format=png&auto=webp&s=7584aa12732f1931586722030e47639c3953afed

The third figure shows the twenty Arizona communities where SNAP reached at least a third of residents last July. Mesa is not on it, since more rural Arizona communities are the places that are more dependent on SNAP as a percentage of total population. Only one Maricopa County place is, and that is Guadalupe which went from 41% to 20%.

Mesa's estimated loss is $58.4 million a year in benefits, again third in the state. That is $114 per Mesa resident in grocery spending that was happening here and is not anymore.

https://preview.redd.it/a0sy17vhd1kh1.png?width=1220&format=png&auto=webp&s=9816ebce713af63db1673cc3e19e69450a69933e

United Food Bank's director of agency network said this spring that the warehouse is at capacity and distribution is up 10 to 12% every month. How does Mesa feel about the SNAP cuts? Know any of the 437,000 people in Arizona or the 25,000 in Mesa who have been impacted?

Method and the full table for all 397 Arizona cities, towns, and communities: Arizona's SNAP Collapse in 397 Cities, Towns, and Communities

From a post on fb ...by Jimmy Arwood, an advocate for schools ... (thanks for the great explainer!)

TL;DR: All the propositions on the Arizona November are tricks -- except for Prop. 212 (Protect Education/voucher reform). Vote NO on all but Prop. 212.

Action Item: Share this information with your community groups and on your own socials. Prop. 320 will mean closing a lot of neighborhood schools that our communities rely on ...after districts will be financially unable to keep them open.

Why is Proposition 320 a Trick?

It has to do with wording.

Today, AZ school districts spend 68% of the dollars they receive on the classroom. This includes teacher pay, math and literacy coaches, special education professionals etc.

They spend 12% on maintaining facilities, 5% on transporting students, 5% on preparing and serving meals. School districts spend the final 10% on administration.

Not only is the spending on administration lower than states like Texas and Florida, Arizona spends the least on administration in the country.

So if Arizona spends less than any other state in the country on administration, and spends nearly 7 in every 10 dollars on the classroom, why should it be so hard to spend 60% on direct instruction as Prop 320 requires?

Wording. Direct instruction vs. classroom spending.

Prop 320 states that AZ’s Auditor General is to define direct instruction. However, the auditor general currently defines classroom spending and direct instruction DIFFERENTLY- by excluding many pieces that are considered classroom spending.

So what does the auditor general exclude that are considered classroom spending?

Special Education professionals? Auditor General excludes this from direct instruction.

Counselors and nurses? Auditor General excludes this from direct instruction.

Librarians, teacher training, technology for the classroom? Yeah those are all excluded too.

Math and Literacy Coaches that are there to help students perform better? You guessed it - excluded.

But lots of things are excluded that are necessary for schools too that aren’t considered classroom spending:

Transporting students to school, or school sports and maintaining sports venues? Also excluded.

Even just feeding kids or repairing a broken A/C? That is excluded.

Even worse yet -

School security, and school safety? These are excluded.

Prop 320 wants to make it seem like 60% of direct instruction should be simple and easy for schools to meet.

The reality?

It’s downright dangerous for kids.

While the state average for classroom spending is 68%, the state average for direct instruction is 52%.

This means that districts would have to cut close to 20% of the ENTIRE rest of their budget in order to meet the mandate of Prop 320.

And if schools don’t meet it?

The fund that helps pay teachers called the classroom site fund?

Yeah so that gets slashed 25% every year, and by year 4 of non-compliance, it would be zeroed out.

Vote no on Prop 320.

Oh and if you don’t believe me? Here’s a screenshot where you can see it for yourself on the Arizona Auditor General’s website.

I’m happy to answer any questions.

https://preview.redd.it/f3736k0qs8jh1.png?width=2430&format=png&auto=webp&s=abf57ea7927a8096c2eb6c78075e4032c27ea69a

Now that Flock is gone, local residents want to make sure that another ALPR company, such as Axon, can’t take Flock’s place. “We don’t want the police to just continue this mass surveillance system under the name of another company,” said Taylortaft, “which is why we’re pushing for an ordinance to prohibit the city from using ALPRs in any way.” He says that could include stopping the city from contracting with a company for the purpose of using ALPRs, both fixed, like traditional Flock Falcon cameras, and mobile, such as those mounted to police vehicles, in addition to prohibiting accessing ALPR data from ALPRs on private property, such as those located at a Home Depot or Lowe’s location, or those used by HOA’s.

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting has written a great summary of the propositions on the ballot. A quck summary: Proposition 212 is Awesome (Protect Education to reform vouchers). The rest are poo poo. https://weekly.cebv.us/arizonas-2026-ballot-propositions