by admin | Nov 3, 2016 | News and Updates
There are already multiple reasons as to why the Arizona’s “Clean Elections” system should be scrapped, but now we can add another abuse to the list—the government program is being used to fund political parties.
This funding loophole was discovered while reviewing campaign finance reports for several “clean” candidates running for office. Several Democratic Candidates running for office contributed over $80,000 to the Democratic Party from the funds provided through the program. The largest contribution came from Corporation Commission candidate Bill Mundell ($29,000). Other contributions to the party include:
- $12,000 from LD 12 Candidate Elizabeth Brown
- $6,800 from LD 11 Candidate Corin Hammond
- $7,000 from LD 8 Candidate Carmen Casillas
- $7,000 from LD 15 Candidate Tonya McBeth
- $4,500 from LD 21 Candidate Deanna Rasmussen
- $4,500 from LD 26 Candidate Athena Salmon
- $3,600 from LD 26 Candidate Isela Blanc
- $3,300 from LD 17 Candidate Jennifer Pawlik
- $3,300 from LD 17 Candidate Steven Weichert
It is not clear whether any strings were attached to the contributions to the party, but it is probably safe to assume that the contributions were a ‘thank you’ for assistance provided in qualifying for the funding.
For those not familiar with the Clean Elections program, in order to receive government money from Clean Elections, candidates need to acquire a certain amount of $5 contributions from registered voters. In the case of statewide races, candidates need thousands of qualifying contributions, which is an extremely difficult and time consuming task.
Both state parties and their local district affiliates have a long history of providing logistic support and manpower to aid candidates in collecting their $5 contributions. Now it appears that they have discovered a way to be financially rewarded for their efforts.
Don’t be surprised to see this abusive practice explode in the future. If both political parties know that they can grow their bottom line using the Clean Elections system, they will work to run publicly funded candidates in every race–especially in noncompetitive state House and Senate races where they can siphon off the Clean Election funds to be used elsewhere.
Lawmakers need to shut this down ASAP, and that means sending reforms of the program to voters so they can end this scheme once and for all.
by admin | Oct 27, 2016 | News and Updates
Add Peoria to the list of local governments asking their residents for a massive tax increase in November. Next month, voters will get to decide whether to approve a multi-million dollar sales tax increase to fund a compilation of questionable infrastructure projects. Even more curious, virtually all of the proposed new projects in the spending plan are slated to benefit one council district in the city, clearly an unfair distribution of the revenue from the tax.
Fighting City Hall is always an uphill climb, but thankfully Senator Debbie Lesko and representative Tony Rivero (District 21) have stepped up to lead the charge against Prop 400.
Dubbing the proposal the “Forever Tax” because it lacks a sunset, Arizona State Senator Debbie Lesko and Arizona State Representative Tony Rivero formed “No Forever Tax, No on Proposition 400.”
Other key facts of Prop 400 include:
*Proposition 400 is a PERMANENT tax increase. There is no sunset or expiration of the tax.
*Public safety will receive less than 5% of the tax increase, and no money is slated for road or street improvements.
*The tax is estimated to cost the average homeowner approximately $250 per year.
*The vast majority of the tax increase is slated for one council district in the northern part of the city.
*This sales tax is in addition to at least two other tax increases in Peoria on the November 8th ballot. Who knows how high taxes will go if all of the proposals are approved.
Since this measure will appear toward the end of the ballot, we urge every hardworking taxpayer in Peoria to not forget to fill out their entire ballot and vote NO on Prop 400.
by admin | Oct 24, 2016 | News and Updates
This November Arizona voters will decide the fate of Prop 206, an initiative that implements job killing wage and benefit mandates on Arizona employers. The Club has communicated why this is a bad deal for our state.
More small business owners throughout the state are speaking out against the initiative. Gregg, a local small business owner, explains why voters shouldn’t be fooled by this out-of-state special interest ploy to unionize Arizona workers. Join Gregg in voting NO on Prop 206.
by admin | Oct 10, 2016 | News and Updates
This November Arizona voters will decide the fate of Prop 206, an initiative that implements job killing wage and benefit mandates on Arizona employers. The Club has communicated why this is a bad deal for our state.
Small business owners throughout the state are now speaking out against the initiative. Barb, a local owner of a family business, explains why voters shouldn’t be fooled by this out-of-state special interest ploy to unionize Arizona workers. Join Barb in voting NO on Prop 206.
by admin | Oct 5, 2016 | News and Updates
Earlier this year, the Club lamented the effort by out-of-state special interest groups to force a slate of anti-business initiatives onto the Arizona ballot. While 2 of the efforts failed to qualify, arguably the most damaging proposal of the slate will be on the November ballot: Prop 206. If approved by voters, Prop 206 would increase the minimum wage to $12/hour (indexed to inflation, so it will go higher) and mandate that all businesses, no matter the size, provide paid leave for employees.
Arizona Voters should reject Prop 206. Legislating employment law from the ballot box is a dangerous idea. Sweeping measures such as this one force all businesses into a one-size-fits-all and disproportionately harm small businesses and entry level workers. The economic damage this will cause to the state by suppressing growth is inevitable.
However, the real kicker is tucked deep into the ballot language, with the hopes that AZ voters won’t be savvy enough to realize it. The Big-Union Bosses backing the initiative have exempted themselves out! Such hypocrisy reveals these sinister groups from California are simply making a play to unionize as many workers in Arizona as possible. More union workers mean more union dues; more unions’ dues mean fatter paychecks for Union Bosses.
We hope Arizonans see through this ruse in November and vote “NO” to keep California interests from ruining Arizona prosperity.
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