2010 Arizona Ballot Proposition Recommendations

Ever wondered how and why we have all those confusing ballot propositions ever couple years? Not only are they usually strangely worded, but what's up with not numbering them consecutively? 101, 304, 425.... Never makes much sense. Well, here's the gist. Propositions are the result of either the state government wanting to change something with Arizona's laws or Constitution, or the public wanting to do so. And to accomplish this, we classify propositions according to four criteria: (read more after the beak jump!)

100's: Propositions numbered in the 100's are for all Constitutional amendments, regardless of who initiates them. For example, the 2006 campaigns featured the high-profile Prop. 107 - the amendment to restrict marriages in Arizona to one man, one woman.

200's: When a citizen or non-governmental group proposes a change to create or amend a state statute, it is numbered in the 200's. The 2008 Proposition 200, for example, which changed the way payday loan companies operate in Arizona and set caps on lender fees, was started by an initiative petition that gathered enough signatures to make it onto the ballot.

300's: Like the 200's, propositions in the 300's column are state statute changes which are initiated by the Arizona State Legislature. Only one such measure was on the 2008 ballot: a proposed recommendation to increase legislative officials' salaries by $6,000 per year.

400's: Any local matters are numbered in the 400's, and might include spending decisions for cities, like this year's Mesa Prop. 420 to spend $84 million to keep the Chicago Cubs in the city.

This year, voters will have the opportunity to decide on 10 statewide propositions and a few local ones. I have read through all the for and against arguments of each, and I present to you here my recommendations on this year's proposals:

Prop. 106: The Healthcare Choice Amendment
Recommendation: VOTE NO
This proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution prohibits any rule or law from compelling a person to participate in a health care system, prohibits any law from fining someone for not having health insurance, and would not affect healthcare options, services covered or not covered, or worker's compensation. Sounds good, but the only reason for this amendment is as a direct challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordability Act (AKA "Obamacare"). Realistically speaking, all this proposed amendment would do is succumb the state to another lawsuit over tenth amendment rights versus the federal government's assumed right to regulate healthcare via the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. It wouldn't help fix any problems with the current healthcare system. It wouldn't cover more Arizonans who can't afford healthcare, and it wouldn't help the state financially in any way. We need solutions, not blockades of things we don't like. Vote no on this poorly written and poorly conceived proposition.

Prop. 107: Anti-Preferential Treatment
Recommendation: VOTE YES
This proposed amendment to the Arizona State Constitution would add in the requirement that no preferential treatment of any individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in any pulic employment, education, or contracting setting. That includes the state, cities, towns, counties, universities, community colleges, etc. The reason for this proposition is to combat the now-increasing problem of "reverse discrimination" whereby minority candidates for positions and programs are chosen over non-minority candidates in order to fill quotas or maintain racial or sex-related "diversity" in that program. But, it also says that if federal money is involved, the state will not be prohibited from something that might conflict with this amendment in order to obtain that money. I'm voting yes on this one because the time has now come for our generation to start acting like race and sex really ARE equal, without quotas and "diversity" movements having to force us together to say that we are.

Prop. 109: Right to Hunt and Fish
Recommendation: VOTE YES
This amendment would vest sole lawmaking and regulatory functions over hunting and fishing in Arizona with the Arizona State Legislature, and enumerates the right to hunt and fish to all citizens of the state. Voting yes on Prop. 109 maintains a tradition in Arizona that plays both a vital role in wildlife management and entertainment/tourism for the state.

Prop. 110: Fixing Land Trust Projects
Recommendation: VOTE YES
In the 1930's Congress amended a law called the Enabling Act to allow Arizona to sell, lease, or place restrictions on state trust lands, which are a vital part of Arizona's economy. Unfortunately, the state never amended the Arizona Constitution to reflect those changes, and a lawsuit which made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that such an amendment needs to be passed to continue to allow Arizona to operate these trust lands as they have been doing. Not passing 110 would be irresponsible and would really hurt the state. Vote yes!

Prop. 111: Creation of a Lieutenant Governor/Party Ticket Voting
Recommendation: VOTE NO
Currently, the citizens of Arizona are allowed to vote separately for a Governor and a Secretary of State. This proposed constitutional amendment changes the title of the Secretary of State to "Lieutenant Governor" and changes the way Arizona voters choose their two highest elected officials. Rather than voting separately for a Governor and Secretary of State, who could potentially be of two different parties, Prop. 111 makes it so that during the PRIMARY ELECTION ONLY, voters would select a gubernatorial candidate of their party and a Lieutenant Governor candidate of their party, and then for the General Election, would cast a vote for only the Governor, with that vote counting for both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the same party. It takes away a voter's right to elect officers of different parties. Imagine if Jan Brewer were leading polls for Governor, but a Democrat were leading for Secretary of State. If Brewer were to win Governor, that Democratic SoS candidate would automatically lose because of this new system. This is a very badly conceived law, and ultimately takes away some of the rights of the voter to have elected officers of differing parties. I STRONGLY urge a NO vote on Prop. 111.

Prop. 112: Filing Deadlines for Initiative Petitions
Recommendation: VOTE YES
This proposed amendment simply moves up the filing deadline for initiative petitions to six months prior to the date of the election from four months prior. It gives the Secretary of State's offices additional time to properly verify signatures on those petitions. As someone who used to collect candidate signatures, and who understands how this would benefit both the SoS's office and the voters, I recommend a yes vote on 112.

Prop. 113: Secret Ballots
Recomendation: VOTE YES
Prop. 113 would guarantee the right to vote a secret ballot in any any all elections or referendums for employee representation. Some union representatives wish to take away this right in order to know which employees are voting against union-approved candidates. Since the right to a secret ballot is a fundamental part of the American political process, enumerating this in the Arizona constitution is just a smart thing to do to ensure that right is never denied to anyone.

Prop. 203: Medical Marijuana
Recommendation: VOTE NO
Prop. 203 creates a whole new Arizona bureaucracy to deal with the dispensation, cultivation, and registration of allowing a currently illegal narcotic to assist patients with certain types of illnesses and to manage pain. In reading the text of this proposed new law, which takes up 10 pages of the Arizona Ballot Proposition Guide, I find that it is so wide-reaching that parts of it could be interpreted to allow the smoking of marijuana any time, any place. Considering that in many places around the country, marijuana is still illegal (including Arizona), and that the medical benefits of the drug have never been fully tested or evaluated by an independent regulatory agency, and that the psychological effects of the drug are debilitating in the short term to any user, this proposition is a complete waste of Arizona money and time. There's a reason it's illegal, people! Vote NO!

Prop. 301: Reverting Land Conservation Fund Money to the Arizona General Fund
Recommendation: VOTE NO
Prop. 301 would revert the balance of money in the Arizona Land Conservation Fund to the Arizona general fund in order to award grants for start trust land projects or conservation management projects. The problem is, the Land Conservation Fund does a great job in keeping Arizona's many, many natural wonders open to the public, secure, and beautiful. Considering how easy it is accounting-wise for the Legislature to reappropriate any money in the General Fund for other purposes (like getting us out of recession), and how much tourism in our natural features is important to the state, it only makes sense to keep the LCF intact.

Prop. 302: Reverting Early Childhood Education Money to the Arizona General Fund
Recommendation: VOTE YES
This final statewide ballot proposition would terminate the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board and revert the balance of funds in the ECDH fund to the Arizona General Fund. It would also revert the tax revenue from the $0.80/pack tobacco tax into the general fund. As I see it, the ECDH fund really hasn't helped fulfil its mission of improving childhood education, school testing scores, or children's health standards. It has been a failed program, and while it was good to attempt it, the time has come for the State of Arizona to get rid of it and try something new. Vote YES on this proposition.

City of Mesa Prop. 420: Keeping the Cubs
Recommendation: VOTE YES!!!!!
The City of Mesa also has one proposition that is very important to me this year. Prop. 420 authorizes the expenditure by the City of Mesa for at least $84 million to purchase land and build a new baseball stadium and surrounding city-controlled developments for the Chicago Cubs franchise. It might seem a little odd, considering considering the Diamondbacks are our team, but for Spring Training, the Cubs have been Arizona's, not to mention Mesa's, top dogs for decades. According to some stats I've read, the Cubs can generate upwards of $100 million in a single Spring Training season for the city, and tourism typically skyrockets around here (meaning revenue to hotels, restaurants, ticket sales, etc) during March and April. I have met people that fly out for two weeks at a time from Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Texas, or elsewhere just for the Arizona Cactus League events. Top that off with the Cubs agreeing to help find a team to replace them in Hohokam Park (the currently largest Spring Training stadium in Arizona), and this is a no-brainer. The Cubs are part of Arizona's traditions, a huge revenue spike in the spring, and a tourism attraction. Voting no would be irresponsible and ignorant of all the Cubs generate for our city! VOTE YES ON 420!!!!!

I am happy to field questions about these propositions, and my candidate voting recommendations will be forthcoming this week. Feel free to leave comments or to contact me!