On Tuesday, justices of the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously declared that a series of budget bills violated the state’s constitution, having included bans on mask mandates and other budget-unrelated clauses.

The bill, proposed by the Republican-dominated state legislature, violates Arizona’s single-subject rule, meaning that legislative acts can only tackle one topic. Unrelated topics included restrictions on critical race theory, the secretary of state’s powers, and regulations meant to reduce the spread of COVID.

The ruling hurts Governor Ducey’s attempts to cancel certain restrictions that came with the COVID pandemic. Ducey has warned that he’ll withhold funds from school districts with mask mandates.

“While some will likely want to challenge today’s ruling, our school communities are tired of being political pawns in dangerous attempts to subvert democracy and ignore science,” Arizona school superintendent Kathy Hoffman stated.

Although it concluded recently, the legal battle had been in progress since early August.

How the legislation will be affected exactly is undecided. The plaintiffs have argued that certain bills should be completely eliminated while the state’s defense holds that the budget bills should still be pushed through.