Arizona Spent $10.3M in ESA Vouchers on Wedding Gifts, Custom Tires, Hotels

New public records obtained by 12News show thousands of parents used Empowerment Scholarship accounts to purchase at least $10.3 million on banned items, including paying themselves, buying condoms, and other sexually explicit items, in less than a year. The documents cover purchases approved from roughly December 2024 to October 2025 and flag nearly 84,000 banned transactions across the program.

The spreadsheets identify at least 18,000 ESA account holders who used voucher funds for banned purchases, a figure described in the records as close to 20 percent of the entire program. The $10.3 million total is tied to that roughly 10-month window; the records compiled for reporting list both individual transactions and aggregate dollar amounts tied to those account numbers.

Sample entries drawn from the documents include wedding gifts, $1,500 gift card purchases, electric dirt bikes, condoms, lubricants, lingerie, custom tires, luxury hotel stays, furniture, insurance payments, and instances of parents paying themselves several thousand dollars each. The documents themselves are presented as a sample of transactions from late 2024 through last fall while also documenting the broader tally of nearly 84,000 flagged purchases.

Responsibility for approvals falls to State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne’s office; records show Horne’s office approved all of the identified purchases during the December 2024 to October 2025 timeframe. The ESA program is co-managed by the Arizona Department of Education and the Treasurer’s Office, with Treasurer Kimberly Yee named in records as a co-manager; 12News sued Superintendent Horne and Treasurer Yee to compel production of the detailed spending records.

12News obtained the detailed spreadsheets after filing a public records request with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which received the documents from the Department of Education as part of an ESA public monies investigation. The Department of Education and the Treasurer’s Office had allegedly slow-walked or refused to respond to public records requests on total ESA spending for nearly a year, the reporting states, creating gaps in the public’s understanding of how widespread the issue may be.

The reporting and critics frame the findings bluntly: “While this list represents only a sample of the total ESA transactions from late 2024 through last fall, it paints a picture of a system with minimal oversight, critics say.” The story has gained traction online with headlines repeating the most provocative examples, and the Attorney General’s ESA public monies investigation remains the locus for further document requests and potential administrative follow-ups.

For now, the records provide a detailed transaction ledger implicating $10.3 million in banned-item spending and nearly 84,000 flagged purchases over roughly December 2024 to October 2025, with oversight and accountability questions resting squarely with Superintendent Tom Horne’s office, the Department of Education, and Treasurer Kimberly Yee as the AG’s investigation continues.