Arizona
State lawmakers are moving once again to try to repeal public funds for candidates.
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On a party line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to put the question on the November ballot. The measure, SCR1021, still requires approval of the full Senate and House, but there appear to be more than enough votes in the Republican-controlled Legislature for final approval.
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This actually will be the second time in two years that lawmakers have set the stage for repeal.
A proposal by House Speaker Andy Tobin may give Republicans one last chance to rid themselves of congressional and legislative maps they’ve fought so hard to eliminate. The Paulden Republican wants a November ballot measure that would overhaul the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.
Arizona voters could get to decide if they want to tax themselves — at least if they drink — to help keep kids from drinking and prevent alcohol abuse.
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Initiative papers filed Tuesday with the state would create a new tax of 25 cents a gallon on hard liquor and a dollar a gallon on beer and wine.
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Proceeds would be earmarked for specific community programs.
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Backers have until July 5 to gather the 172,809 valid signatures necessary to put the question on the November ballot.
A group wants to ask Arizona voters to allow gambling at private casinos and racetracks. The 50-page initiative was filed with the state Friday, but a leader of the effort says a revised version will be filed Tuesday to make changes that include a new name for the group. Organizers would have to collect nearly 173,000 signatures for the measure to go on the November ballot.
A political action group in Arizona is gearing up to enter a citizen’s initiative in the state’s 2012 elections, which would allow individuals using solar power to trade environmental credits in exchange for discounts on income tax, while making solar more affordable. The “Go Solar in Arizona” Economic Development Initiative, initiated by the Arizona Solar Power Society, has been filed before the office of the Arizona Secretary of State for inclusion on the Arizona 2012 ballot, to offer voters a chance to vote yes in favor of the initiative.
Another try to have Arizona voters consider a property tax relief measure is under way. Prop 13 Arizona Chairwoman Lynne Weaver on Monday filed papers with the Secretary of State’s Office to launch a campaign to qualify the proposal for the next general election ballot. Similar efforts fell short of qualifying for the ballot in 2008 and 2010.
Solar energy advocates are proposing a ballot measure to increase Arizona’s income tax credit for solar energy devices and create a new trading exchange for the state to sell energy credits at a profit. Supporters of the initiative must collect petition signatures of 172,809 voters by July 5, 2012 to qualify the measure for the 2012 general election ballot.
Claiming preemption by federal law, the National Labor Relations Board filed suit Friday to void a voter-approved state constitutional amendment spelling out that unions can be formed in Arizona only by secret ballot. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, says the measure mandating elections by affected workers would eliminate the option that now exists for employers to recognize a union without having an election. That, according to attorneys for the NLRB, runs afoul of federal law.
A proposal to effectively gut Arizona’s public campaign funding system is going onto the state’s 2012 general election ballot. The Senate’s 22-7 vote Monday completes legislation action on the referendum. The House approved it last Thursday. The action came as legislators worked to end their 2011 regular session, possibly as early as Tuesday.
As new research from Ballotpedia.com shows, electoral recall is being used more frequently by citizens looking to hold government officials accountable. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is the latest recall target.
A state lawmaker wants a new hurdle for individuals and groups who propose their own state laws and constitutional amendments. HCR 2005, proposed by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, would require that at least half of the signatures needed to put future issues on the ballot be gathered by those who have not been paid for their efforts. Petition drives that get the necessary signatures but can’t meet that volunteer threshold would be disqualified.
The recount result is in and confirms the defeat of Proposition 112 at the state polls in November. The measure would have shortened the amount of time to file citizens-initiative petitions before the general election by two months. The recount was the first statewide ballot-proposition recount in a general election.
Arizona Proposition 112, which would have forced petition proponents to turn in signatures two months earlier than they currently do, has been confirmed in a recount to have been defeated. The legislatively referred constitutional amendment triggered the state’s first-ever recount of a ballot initiative because the margin was less than 200 votes. Final results of the recount were certified today by a Maricopa County (Phoenix) judge showing the measure to have lost by 194 votes.
After multiple requests to rezoning his residential property on Vermeersch Road to commercial were voted down, T.C. Thorstenson decided to register a political action committee called Citizens for a Commercial Event Center, and proceeded to collect initiative petition signatures as a means to rezone his property. Thorstenson showed up at town hall to turn in his petitions on Dec. 8 with approximately 135 signatures only to learn the deadline was Nov. 8 for any initiative to appear on the March ballot.
As you may remember, we opposed Arizona’s Proposition 112 which was on the state ballot earlier this month. The proposition would have shortened the amount of time citizens have to collect petition signatures. The proposition lost by less than 200 votes so a recount is mandatory.
The interesting thing about this recount of the election results for Proposition 112 is that it will be the first in state history for a ballot measure: