by admin | Jul 14, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
Bad ideas never seem to go away. And in politics, they often get recycled every 10 years because consultants need to make money. That’s why it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that we’re seeing another push for jungle primaries in the state of Arizona.
If you’re not familiar with a jungle primary (or open primary), it is an election in which all candidates run in the same primary regardless of their political party. The top two candidates who receive the most votes then advance to the general election.
Several years ago, California adopted this “solution” under the guise that it would result in more moderate policies and candidates being elected there. Go ahead and read that again. When you think of California, do you think of a state with moderate policies and candidates? That should tell you all you need to know about jungle primaries. And yet, now we have groups like Save Democracy telling us that we need to act more like California to improve Arizona. No thank you!
Of course, Arizona voters already said as much back in 2012 when they overwhelmingly rejected this absurd form of voting. But despite this, Save Democracy has decided to pursue a ballot measure to institute jungle primaries after it realized that its work to bring ranked-choice voting (RCV) to Arizona was a disorganized mess.
Some may be thinking: does this mean that the campaign for ranked-choice voting in Arizona is over?
No! (You may want to get your popcorn ready for this one.) While Save Democracy has given up on RCV, a group called Voter Choice Arizona (VCA) has not. Clearly upset with Save Democracy stabbing them in the back and pulling their support, VCA is now openly feuding with its former ally in Save Democracy after it was forced to clarify that they are 100% committed to putting a ranked-choice voting measure on the 2024 ballot.
On top of all this, the Republican-led legislature already voted to send a measure to the 2024 ballot that would give Arizona voters a chance to further protect our primary election system from ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries. So, if you’re keeping score at home, that means we could have three potential ballot initiatives in 2024 dealing with ranked-choice voting or jungle primaries.
This may all seem confusing, but no less confusing than ranked-choice voting where:
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- Candidates are listed on the ballot, and voters rank each candidate in order of preference.
- If a candidate wins 50% or more of the first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner.
- If no one wins in the first round, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
- In the next round, voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their first choice then have their vote counted for their second preference.
- The process continues until one candidate eventually wins the majority of the adjusted votes.
Jungle primaries will cause many of the same problems—leaving Arizona voters confused and potentially resulting in candidates from the same party being on the ballot in the general election. And that doesn’t even get into the impact all this could have on our voting machines that have had enough trouble under the current system.
The reality is that we’ve already seen significant issues with ranked-choice voting in Alaska. And jungle primaries in California have resulted in fewer candidate choices and even more far left radical politics. We can’t let that happen here. Arizona voters already rejected jungle primaries once. Now, they should shoot them down again.
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by admin | Jul 11, 2023 | Misc, News and Updates
Universities are supposed to be the “marketplace of ideas.” With a “green light” rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), you would think that Arizona State University (ASU) would understand this. But apparently, the school would rather be just another woke university that shuts down free speech. Now, the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development—a center of the Barrett Honors College—and its executive director Ann Atkinson have found out the hard way.
Back in February, Atkinson organized an event on “Health, Wealth, and Happiness” as part of a series from the Lewis Center focused on connecting students with professionals who can offer career and life advice. Speakers for the event included Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, radio talk show host and founder of Prager U Dennis Prager, founder and president of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, and heart-transplant cardiologist Radha Gopalan. For a university that offers classes on subjects like witchcraft and critical theories of sexuality, this event felt pretty tame by comparison. But the mere mention of these conservative speakers caused more than 75 percent of the Barrett Honors College faculty to have a meltdown. (Looks like ASU’s commitment to force job applicants to sign diversity statements is paying off.)
Along with sending a letter to Barrett Honors College Dean Tara Williams condemning the event and calling the speakers “purveyors of hate,” some faculty spent time in class denouncing it while others actually recruited students to oppose the program. On top of that, on-campus marketing of the event was removed with fliers torn down and all digital advertising scrubbed. Atkinson was also told by the dean that she couldn’t send an email promoting the event all while ASU continued to promote a counter-event. And she was warned that if the speakers made any political statements, it wouldn’t be in the “best interests” of the Lewis Center.
Atkinson ignored all the threats, and the event proved to be a great success with 1,500 attendees in person, more than 24,000 attendees online, and zero disturbances or traumatized students.
So, how did ASU respond to this success?
Lin Blake, the event operations manager at ASU Gammage Theater (where the event was held), was fired despite initially being labeled a “rockstar” for how she handled the event. And as of June 30, ASU dismantled the Lewis Center and terminated Atkinson’s position.
Of course, this isn’t the first time ASU has shown disdain for conservative events. In January 2022, the university offered conflicting explanations for canceling a fundraiser that was set to feature Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs and former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz. And in March 2022, the school initially canceled two other conservative events that included speakers Bret Weinstein and Katie Pavlich. The March events were eventually restored with a follow-up email that stated, “Under the leadership of President Michael Crow, Arizona State University is committed to intellectual diversity.”
For President Crow and ASU, it now appears that “intellectual diversity” and free speech are simply limited to allowing speakers to speak. But if those speakers even dare to hold ideas that are counter to the prevailing orthodoxy on campus, there will be retribution. Positions will be terminated. Centers will be closed. And students will suffer because of it. After all, many undergraduates skipped out on the “Health, Wealth, and Happiness” event because they were worried that their attendance could hurt them academically. That very real possibility should serve as a “red light” to any parent who’s considering paying to send their child to ASU. And it should inspire lawmakers to find ways to ensure that free speech is protected at our state’s taxpayer-funded universities.
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.
by admin | Jun 22, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
For years, Arizona has been a target of out-of-state special interest groups that want to put their radical ideas in our state. The process usually goes something like this.
- Liberal groups from outside Arizona take an issue that is unpopular with the electorate, like tax hikes.
- They come in and hire an army of paid circulators to flood the streets of Phoenix and Tucson to collect their signatures—hardly bothering with the rest of the state.
- Bad policy and sweeping reforms are placed on our ballots with only a small fraction of the state’s support.
One of the most recent examples of this was Prop 208, which narrowly passed in 2020. Out-of-state teachers’ unions spent more than $30 million over four years in their effort to buy the largest tax hike in history—lying to Arizona voters to get signatures and lying to get the slimmest of majorities to approve it. Had it not been for the court system killing Prop 208 once and for all, Arizona would be a high tax state today.
Now, a proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Arizona Senator J.D. Mesnard would put a stop to this abuse. SCR 1015 would require that any initiative looking to qualify for the ballot is required to collect signatures from all 30 legislative districts in the state. This means that anyone who thinks they have a good idea that should be on the ballot won’t be able to rely solely on signatures from large cities like Phoenix and Tucson. They will also need to talk to voters in Buckeye, Kingman, Yuma, Wilcox, and more.
This is a commonsense reform that would require a percentage of registered voters from each legislative district to express their support of a ballot initiative before it could appear on a ballot.
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- Signatures from 10 percent of the qualified electors from each legislative district would be needed to propose any statewide measure.
- Signatures from 15 percent of the qualified electors from each legislative district would be needed to propose any constitutional amendment.
- Signatures from 5 percent of the qualified electors in each legislative district would be needed to propose a statewide referendum.
Most other states that have an initiative process also have a geographic signature distribution requirement just like this one. And it’s time that Arizona has one as well to make sure that our initiative process is for all Arizonans—not out-of-state special interests.
SCR 1015 will be on the ballot in November 2024, and as you might expect Democrats like Rep. Athena Salman are already busy gaslighting the people of Arizona (while fully mased, of course). And just like with Prop 132 last year, out-of-state unions and liberals will look to spend big to defeat the measure. But Prop 132 passed, which means that a 60 percent majority vote of the people is now required on any ballot measure that seeks to raise your taxes. Let’s ensure that SCR 1015 meets the same fate so that a more representative group of Arizona voters has a say in what appears on the ballot.
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!
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by admin | Jun 12, 2023 | News and Updates, Tax
The Prop 400 package put together by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) is in serious trouble at the legislature, and Katie Hobbs and the transit lobby knows it. So, in a desperate attempt to rescue their defective plan, they have phoned a friend to see if a little legacy media pressure will improve their flagging fortunes at the Capitol.
In recent weeks, the AZ Republic has unleashed a torrent of articles and opinion pieces attempting to scare the legislature into sending their transit slush fund package up to Hobbs’ desk. Most of their writings have been nothing more than recycled talking points from MAG and transit industry lobbyists attacking conservative lawmakers and critics (like the Club) for opposing a plan that slashes freeway funding and increases traffic congestion in the region.
A couple weeks ago it was in the form of an editorial that claimed to disprove our Prop 400 criticism by “relitigating” the merits of bus and light rail and proving its value in the region. And now over the weekend, their opinion writers couldn’t race out fast enough to promote the press release issued by Katie Hobbs and the transit lobby that the legislature needs to adopt a fake “compromise” MAG plan.
In short, their efforts to “relitigate” the merits of transit or to declare that there is any type of “compromise” only demonstrate how radical their position really is.
Here are just a few examples of how the Republic has veered from journalism to being nothing more than a lobbying arm of the transit lobby:
There Is a Compromise? With Whom?
Over the weekend a choreographed social media blitz was launched by Katie Hobbs and MAG, with their allies at the Republic eagerly playing along. They claimed that Republicans are refusing to move a “compromise plan” that made over 30 concessions, including reductions in light rail spending.
It sounded great, except for one problem: their compromise plan is no different than the plan vetoed by Governor Ducey last year.
That “big concession” about taking light rail out of the plan? What a farce. Light rail expansion isn’t going away, their plan just shifts bus expenditures from municipalities to the regional tax, which then frees up city money to pay for the rail.
These type of cheap accounting tricks are not surprising to those that have been engaged in the Prop 400 debate at the legislature. MAG and the transit lobby have been adamant for over a year that they won’t negotiate, and that their Momentum Plan cannot be altered. Don’t believe us, just watch one of the MAG transportation meetings from the last couple of months where they have restated this position on several occasions.
And given that intransigent position, it is easy to see why they ran to the Republic to reframe the narrative by peddling their bogus compromise.
Does the Republic Know That Transit Ridership in Metro Phoenix Has Collapsed?
On several occasions the Republic has bragged about transit ridership in the region, even boasting about “32 million annual rides on public transportation.”
One wonders if they even know what that figure represents, because that averages out to only 40,000 people a day using transit in the region, in a metropolitan area of 5 million residents. One 4-lane arterial road will carry more people on a given day than ride a bus or take the light rail.
Also conveniently missing from the Republic editorial is that transit ridership has been in decline for over a decade and fell off a cliff during the pandemic (ridership is still half of what it was pre-pandemic). There are now fewer people riding transit today than were riding in 2005, before 33% of the Prop 400 tax was diverted to transit. Voters were promised twenty years ago that spending billions on light and bus would increase transit use, yet the opposite has occurred, all while the region grew in population by over 1.5 million residents.
Other Cities Waste Billions on Transit Too!
The Republic has also taken the time to point out that “other top 10 metropolitan areas in the country all support buses and rail…in equal or greater magnitude.”
This analysis of course leaves out two important details:
- Virtually every metropolitan area with a large transit system is on the verge of bankruptcy and is seeking massive taxpayer bailouts. Valley Metro is facing a similar fiscal cliff, which is why a large portion of the MAG plan is dedicated to making their bankrupt system solvent.
- The only transit systems not going bankrupt have either imposed performance metrics or are using private operators that are interested in making a profit. Right now fares being collected by Valley Metro are covering only 7% of the cost to operate our buses and light rail. In 2005, they promised voters that fare recovery would be at least 30%. Promises made, promises NOT kept.
Prop 400 Funds Roadway Repairs and Maintenance? Spoiler Alert: It Doesn’t
Another argument promoted by the Republic editorial board is that “a big chunk of Prop 400 proceeds—42% of the projected $14.9 Billion—are to repair and maintain our freeways and roads.” They proceed to state that the entire debate over 400 is “an indictment not of local or regional planning but of the legislature…if the obstructionists at the Capitol truly want to fix potholes and service freeways and streets, then they put their own house in order and raise the gas tax.”
This criticism would be scathing if any of it were true. All of the funding for maintaining and repairing our freeways comes from the state HURF monies and federal dollars. Every dime of that funding is legally required to occur irrespective of Prop 400 moving forward or not.
It’s understandable for someone that is unfamiliar with Prop 400 to make this mistake. But the Republic should know how 400 works, specifically that the proposed tax is slated to only be used toward new freeway and roadway projects.
Clearly they don’t, especially since they proceed to argue that major freeway projects like expanding the I-17 and I-10 should be paid for by the state through a gas tax increase. Really? The only reason the tax exists is to build freeways! MAG’s proposed 400 plan slashes freeway funding by 30%, and the Republic thinks that is a big win for motorists.
MAG Will Only Have Themselves to Blame if 400 Is Not Extended.
Republicans at the legislature aren’t interested in the funding gimmicks or fake concessions promoted by MAG, which is why no agreement has been reached. And now we are nearing the end of the legislative session, which means MAG is running out of time if they want a Prop 400 plan passed at the Capitol.
If they are really interested in seeing something get done, the transit lobby needs to accept that significant changes need to be made to their plan, and no amount of editorials from the Republic is going to change that reality.
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!
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by admin | Jun 8, 2023 | Misc, News and Updates
We all know it’s been a rough start for Governor Katie Hobbs as Arizona’s Chief Executive. Along with high-profile staff exits and breaking the veto record after killing the bipartisan “Tamale Bill,” Hobbs alienated many Democrats when she signed the budget sent to her by the Republican-led legislature.
Not to be outdone, Attorney General Kris Mayes has come along since taking office with one clear message to Hobbs: “Hold my Bud Light.”
Mayes has been occupying the AG office for a couple of months, and she has already figured out a way to abuse her power and violate her attorney client obligations. All driven by her desire for headlines and trying to claim the mantle as top Democrat demagogue in the state.
Her antics began in April when she decided it was a good idea to threaten action against the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), demanding that the department supply her with documentation showing that the agency is in compliance with its responsibilities.
Then she kicked off last month by falsely claiming that the budget agreement that protected universal school choice would bankrupt the state, despite the expenditure data showing that the growing and wildly popular Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program saves the state money.
When her social media blustering against ESAs didn’t stop the budget from being signed by Governor Hobbs, Mayes doubled down on her ESA assault by announcing her intent to investigate parents and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) over the ESA program.
Kris Mayes has always had a reputation of trying to bully other people around (just ask anyone that dealt with her at the Arizona Corporation Commission), but one would think she would at least confer with legal counsel in the AG office before engaging in behavior that can get you disbarred. After all, making public threats as a lawyer that you want to investigate your own client (ADWR or ADE) and accusing them of illegal behavior is a severe ethical violation. But Mayes wanted the headlines and adoration from Red For Ed. Well she got it, and her reward is a formal complaint filed against her with the State Bar of Arizona demanding an investigation.
We believe a comprehensive investigation by the State Bar is necessary to hold AG Mayes accountable for her reckless behavior. At a minimum, a closer look at her inappropriate behavior should bring to a screeching halt any rogue investigation that Mayes was planning on conducting—without evidence—against the ESA program at the Department of Education.
And despite the rhetoric coming from Mayes, Hobbs, and other leftists like Rep. Andrés Cano that ESAs will bankrupt our state, the opposite has proven to be true. Arizona’s bet on universal school choice has been paying off in spades. During this fiscal year, the ESA program has exploded with more than 58,000 now enrolled.
But if you believe the lies of Mayes, Hobbs, Cano, and their allies in the teachers’ unions, you would think that Arizona would be suffering from a severe budget deficit. Instead, the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee has estimated a revenue surplus by an extra $750 million—a surplus that has increased as ESA program enrollment has increased.
The fact is that a typical ESA scholarship award is around $7,000 per student. But public schools spend roughly twice that per student to the tune of $14,000 per year. This means that any time a student is awarded an ESA, taxpayers get a 50% discount. No wonder Arizona families will be getting some cash back from the state later this year. The ESA program is not only sustainable, but it puts money back into the wallets of taxpayers!
Once again, the left proves that it’s really bad at math. They can’t count signatures, and they think that spending less per student will lead to bankruptcy. No wonder they’re trying to prevent Abe Hamadeh’s challenge to the Arizona Attorney General Election. They’re worried that the over 9,000 provisional ballots remaining will put them on the wrong side of the count once again. And that would be the final straw for Kris Mayes.
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.
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