When groups outside of Arizona have more interest in stopping an initiative reform than groups inside Arizona, that should tell you everything you need to know. And so it is with Will of the People Arizona, a group so concerned with our state that it raised nearly $325,000 in the third quarter of 2022.

That’s impressive, isn’t it? But do you know what’s even more impressive? Only $33 of the money raised by Will of the People came directly from people who actually live in Arizona!

You read that right…$33.

Despite its claim at the bottom of its website that only 20 percent of contributions are “coming from out of state,” the group received 11 payments from the Washington, D.C.-based The Fairness Project totaling more than $254,000. In addition, $70,000 came from the Berkeley-based Every Single Vote, and another D.C.-based group called Ballot Initiative Strategy Center contributed $326.11.

That’s well over 99% of the contributions to Will of the People Arizona coming from groups based in California and D.C. whose primary goal is to ensure our state is susceptible to their big money power plays. Specifically, these groups are trying to stop good initiatives like Props 129 and 132 which are designed to stop these out-of-state special interests from pumping money into Arizona to buy their way onto the ballot.  

Currently, in the ballot initiative process, there is a lack of a single subject rule. This often gets exploited by out-of-state groups that want to shove multiple provisions on many different subjects into their ballot initiatives. Prop 129 would require ballot initiatives to pertain to a single subject, which is the same requirement for bills to pass the state legislature.

But stopping Prop 129 isn’t the only target of their big spending.

Prop 132 would require any new tax or tax increase on the ballot to receive at least 60% of the vote to pass. This is a critical initiative in this year’s election. Allowing 51% of the population (which may not have to pay the tax increase) to vote to tax the other 49% is wrong. We saw this most recently with Prop 208 back in 2020. This disastrous piece of legislation, which was pushed by out-of-state special interest groups, passed with only 51% of people voting for it. Had it not been for the court system killing Prop 208 once and for all, Arizona would right now be a high tax state.

The fact that Will of the People—or should we say “Will of Out-Of-State Unions and Special Interests”—is willing to spend big dollars to stop Props 129 and 132 proves exactly why Arizona needs these important initiatives.

It’s time to stop groups in California, Washington, D.C., or any other state from bringing their radical ideas to Arizona’s ballots. As you vote in this November’s election, protect your wallet, our state’s economy, and the future of Arizona by voting YES on Props 129 and 132.

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