The Anti-Tax Mood Among the People of Arizona Is a Great Source of Hope

The Anti-Tax Mood Among the People of Arizona Is a Great Source of Hope

Arizona taxpayers are tired. It’s bad enough that our state has been getting crushed by the highest inflation rate in the country, but during this past November’s election, the government tried to swoop in and take more of your hard-earned dollars out of your wallet. This time, Arizona voters said enough is enough. Not only did they reject several tax increases, but they ensured victory for one key protection against future tax increases.

Arizonans Reject Prop 310

Prop 310 aimed to increase the statewide sales tax by 0.1% to fund fire districts throughout Arizona, and its proponents used the oldest trick in the book. Just like we’ve seen with past education or transportation tax increases, they tried to convince voters that Prop 310 would only cost them a penny when they buy coffee or a dime when they buy dinner.

But Arizona voters saw through it—with 53% of the people rejecting the tax.

The fact is that Prop 310 would have been a massive tax increase. The Commonsense Institute estimated that it would have cost taxpayers $5.5 billion over the next 20 years while resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. But the problem with Prop 310 wasn’t just that it was bad tax policy, it was lazy legislating. Arizona currently has a $5 billion surplus and will likely have another one in the coming year, thanks to prior tax cuts. Saying no to this tax hike on the ballot doesn’t mean that the people of Arizona said no to public safety. It just means that our state’s lawmakers need to do their jobs and create a plan that doesn’t burden taxpayers further.

Transportation Taxes Fail in Pinal County and Kingman

Earlier this year, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against a Pinal County transportation tax scheme in a lawsuit brought by the Goldwater Institute. So, how did the county respond? It pushed for Prop 469 on the ballot—a half-cent sales tax that the county claimed would be used for a long list of transportation projects and programs through the next 20 years.

But Pinal County voters have a good memory, and they’re tired of the government wasting their hard-earned dollars or trying to illegally take more money from them. So, they voted down this ill-conceived tax increase. And they’re not the only ones who rejected a transportation tax in this November’s election. Kingman residents joined them by saying no to Prop 415—a 0.56% sales tax increase for single items below $10,000 to fund residential street repair and maintenance.  

The Success of Prop 132 Will Protect Against Future Tax Increases

As important as the rejection of these tax increases was, it is the success of Prop 132 that gives taxpayers the most hope for the future. With its passing, this constitutional amendment will require a 60 percent majority vote of the people on any ballot measure that seeks to raise your taxes.

Not only does this super majority reflect the current process for tax increases in the state legislature, but it will put a check on out-of-state special interests that want to increase Arizona’s taxes to fund their schemes. Now, thanks to Prop 132, if we’re going to ask the people of Arizona to part with more of their paycheck, it will need to be for something that has broad agreement from every part of the state. And that is critical because tax increases should never be taken lightly—especially in the midst of a worsening economy, rising inflation, and high gas prices. The people of Arizona recognized this in November’s election, and now we can all truly enjoy massive tax cuts starting in 2023.

Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network

Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!

Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.

We’re Suing to Protect Donor Privacy and Free Speech from the Unconstitutional Prop 211

We’re Suing to Protect Donor Privacy and Free Speech from the Unconstitutional Prop 211

In this past November’s election, Arizona voters were misled into passing Prop 211. Billed as the “Voters’ Right to Know Act” that’s supposed to “Stop Dark Money” in our state, it sounds harmless enough. But that was all a part of the clever messaging from its campaigners—like former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard—to scare the average person into voting “yes.”

Unfortunately, it worked. But Prop 211 is unconstitutional, and that’s why the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, in partnership with the Center for Arizona Policy and the Goldwater Institute, filed a lawsuit to stop the Act from being enforced.

Prop 211 Threatens Donor Privacy

Every American should be free to peacefully support causes they believe in without being harassed or intimidated. But the broadly written Prop 211 puts this in significant jeopardy.

The Act requires groups or entities that spend over $50,000 on “campaign media spending” in a statewide race or $25,000 in any other race to disclose the names, mailing addresses, occupations, and identities of employers of donors who gave more than $5,000 to the organization during that election cycle. And it requires the organization to disclose its top three donors regardless of whether their money was used for “campaign media spending.”

This is just another attempt to target, harass, and dox conservatives who won’t submit to the Left’s agenda. And if you don’t think this happens, think again. Just ask Brendan Eich, who was forced to step down from his position as Mozilla CEO several years ago after it was made public that he donated money to support a California initiative that aimed to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Or you could also talk to our staff here at the Club, who have received numerous phone calls and voicemails threatening violence—including one staff member whose car was vandalized for engaging in public communications on our behalf.

Prop 211 Threatens Free Speech

Both the U.S Constitution and the Arizona Constitution guarantee citizens the right to speak freely, which includes the right to not be forced to speak. Prop 211 not only violates this right for donors by silencing them from supporting causes they believe in, but it impairs the speech of nonprofits like the Club as well.

The Act’s definition of “campaign media spending” includes any public communication that “promotes, supports, attacks, or opposes” a candidate within six months of an election or even “refers” to a candidate ninety days before a primary election. In other words, pointing out a favorable (or unfavorable) vote by an incumbent lawmaker in an article, blog, or social media post by the Club would trigger enforcement and compliance with Prop 211 starting in January of an election year. And if you think that by simply avoiding traditional campaign media spending (sending out a mailer, airing a TV commercial, etc.) will protect you from Prop 211, think again. The measure applies to all “research, design, production…or any other activity conducted in preparation for” a public communication about a candidate. Since writing articles and producing social media posts have a cost, we would have to calculate and regularly track how much staff time and office resources are used to produce these materials.

This level of onerous accounting is almost impossible and would drastically limit the Club’s public communications during legislative sessions and through the campaign season. That is why, as we state in our lawsuit, that Prop 211 will force us to cease many of the activities and publications that are not even campaign related in order to avoid the absurd dragnet and complex regulatory labyrinth established by this Act.

On top of that, this hopelessly vague standard is left to the loose discretion of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission—a group that has often been at odds with our organization in past ballot initiative campaigns and litigation, including a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that significantly reduced the Commission’s power.

Now, it’s in the hands of the Maricopa County Superior Court, who may want to take a look at another recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta. In its decision, the high court struck down a similar law out of California because the First Amendment protects the freedom to support organizations and nonprofits anonymously. That means Prop 211 is unconstitutional, and the Maricopa County Superior Court needs to make that clear.

Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network

Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!

Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.

The November Election Shows That the GOP Won the Education Debate

The November Election Shows That the GOP Won the Education Debate

The public school system in Arizona is a complete mess. But during the past few years, it really hit a new low.

Attempts to indoctrinate children with Critical Race Theory and radical gender theory have been spreading throughout our public school districts. COVID shutdowns have wreaked havoc on students’ education—especially low-income parents and children. In the meantime, public school spending surged during COVID while teacher pay didn’t keep pace. But that didn’t stop failed teachers’ unions like Red4ED from trying to use the “low teacher pay” narrative in their attempts to push more ridiculous tax increases on taxpayers like you.

Of course, all of this is only more infuriating when you consider that the majority of Arizona students continue to fail the statewide assessment. And ACT scores for Arizona students have fallen below the standards for our state universities. That’s why the Club made it a priority to drain the public school swamp in this past November’s election.  

19 Club-Endorsed Candidates Won School Board Seats

Defeating the Left isn’t just about winning statewide races. If we are ever going to stop the radical woke agenda, local school board races are critical. Altogether, the Club endorsed 28 different candidates for school boards throughout the state, and 19 of them won a seat. When you consider that school boards have been overrun by leftist activists for years, this is a huge victory, especially in a city like Scottsdale.

Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) has been one of the worst offenders when it comes indoctrinating children with gender identity ideology. SUSD allows and even encourages students to replace their “deadname”—the birth name that individuals reject upon transitioning genders—with their preferred name on their school ID. On top of that, one Scottsdale principal required middle school teachers to attend grooming training without facing any accountability from the school board. Another Scottsdale teacher pushed radical sex theories that were not approved by the district. And the district also went on to promote a “Drag Queen Story Hour.”

But in this past November’s election, Club-endorsed candidates Amy Carney and Carine Werner won the two available seats to serve on the Scottsdale School Board. Both these moms have made it a commitment to root out controversial indoctrination programs and refocus the district on strengthening students in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. And they will serve as a crucial voice for parents throughout the city.

Tom Horne Will Replace Union Darling Kathy Hoffman as Superintendent

Along with the great success in local school board races, Republican Tom Horne triumphed over Kathy Hoffman in the race for Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. Tom served in this same position from 2003 to 2011, and now he will make it a priority to stop indoctrination like Critical Race Theory, fight back against cancel culture, and improve student performance.

In addition, Tom has been a strong advocate for school choice and empowering parents—which stands in stark contrast to current Superintendent Kathy Hoffman. Kathy was a vocal opponent of the state’s recent law that expands Empower Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to all K-12 students. And she supported the failed Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ) ballot initiative that sought to stop universal school choice. Hoffman was everything the radical left and K-12 spending lobby wanted in a candidate, and she lost.

Tom hasn’t wasted any time getting to work as our top education official. He has already appointed Christine Accurso, who led the Decline to Sign movement to stop SOSAZ’s ballot initiative, to be the Executive Director of the ESA division of the Department of Education. This was a critical hire given the bureaucratic roadblocks erected against the ESA program by the Hoffman regime.

Fixing the management and application process for the ESA program is an important step, but it’s just the beginning. Arizona’s public education system needs a significant overhaul, and the people of Arizona know it. Now, Tom Horne and the newly elected conservative board members need to get to work making that happen. And the GOP needs to build upon the momentum it created in winning the education debate.

Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network

Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!

Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.

The Success of Props 129 and 132 Is a Positive Step for the Future of Arizona

The Success of Props 129 and 132 Is a Positive Step for the Future of Arizona

Not every outcome of November’s frustrating and poorly run election was a disaster. While Maricopa County certainly dropped the ball, and we await the results of any lawsuits and investigations, voters passed some important initiative reforms.

One of those came from Proposition 129, which earned 55 percent of the vote. This measure amends the Arizona Constitution to limit ballot initiatives to a single subject. It also requires the subject to be included in the title of the measure.

The passing of Prop 129 is critical because for years, out-of-state special interest groups have made it a habit to shove multiple provisions on many different subjects into their ballot initiatives. That would often lead to confusion for voters who didn’t always understand what exactly they were voting for or against. And it would put voters in the difficult position to vote on the entirety of an initiative even though they may support some parts of it and oppose others. Now, with the single subject rule, ballot initiatives will have the same requirement for bills to pass the state legislature. And voters will gain some much-needed clarity when they cast their vote.

But Prop 129 wasn’t the only important initiative reform to pass in this November’s election. In a big win for taxpayers across the state, Arizona voters also passed Prop 132. This measure requires a 60 percent majority vote of the people on any ballot measure that seeks to raise your taxes.

Requiring broader support like this puts a check on out-of-state special interests who want to increase Arizona’s taxes to fund their schemes. After all, just look what they tried to do with Prop 208 back in 2020. This disastrous piece of legislation passed with only 51% of the vote and would have made Arizona a high tax state had it not been for litigation challenging the constitutionality of the plan killing it once and for all. Now, any measure aimed to raise your taxes will require a super majority, just like it does at our state legislature. And Arizonans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it won’t be so easy to take more money out of their wallets.

Of course, the big loser in all of this is out-of-state special interests, who spent millions in an effort to defeat Props 129 and 132. In fact, one group that called themselves Will of the People Arizona, was so concerned with stopping these initiatives that it raised and spent around $2 million to defeat Prop 132 alone. Of course, they didn’t bother to tell voters that only $33 from their massive fundraising haul came from people who actually live in Arizona. The overwhelming majority of their cash came from unions and liberal groups residing in California and Washington, D.C.

But this time, the people of Arizona saw through the lies. They passed Props 129 and 132, which should help stop groups in others states from bringing their radical ideas to Arizona’s ballots. And that is a significant step to protect the future of our state.

Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network

Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!

Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.