Mesa Residents Should Reject Props 476 and 477 to Protect Their Hard-Earned Dollars

by admin | Nov 3, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates, Tax

Right now, public unions are trying to fleece the taxpayers of Mesa. In addition to the dozens of candidates, judicial retention decisions, and statewide propositions, voters in Mesa will also decide on two amendments to their city Charter that will result in a shakedown of taxpayers and would insulate politicians from accountability.

The first, Prop 476, would give Mesa Unions special access to leverage for taxpayer-funded benefits behind closed doors. The other, Prop 477, removes accountability for wasteful spending, allowing unelected bureaucrats to spend money without council approval and letting elected politicians off the hook.

Vote NO on Prop 476

The city of Mesa used to engage in a process known as “meet and confer” with public labor unions. This process requires city bureaucrats to “discuss” wages, benefits, and time off with union bosses. In reality, it is a way to bamboozle the city and fleece the taxpayers with millions in wasteful spending.

The “meet and confer” process requires the city to meet with unions in “good faith.” So, if the city doesn’t kowtow to the demands of the taxpayer-funded union bosses, they can threaten to sue the city for not engaging in good faith, resulting in costly litigation. In other words, good faith simply means the union bosses get what they want.

Thankfully, Mesa backed off and ended this crummy practice in 2017 when the Goldwater Institute informed them that it violated their Charter. Now, just five years later, the unions are coming back, trying to convince Mesa voters to amend the Charter to permanently allow them to negotiate these backroom deals with city bureaucrats that will cost taxpayers millions.

There’s a reason Mesa’s Charter currently prohibits it—and why neighboring towns like Gilbert prohibited it in 2014—to protect taxpayers and to prevent the city from becoming the next Phoenix with its $3.4 billion in pension debt.

Vote NO on Prop 477

Then there is Prop 477, also amending the city Charter, to allow unelected bureaucrats to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars without ever getting approval from the city council. Currently, city bureaucrats are limited to $25,000 in purchases without council approval. Prop 477 rips off that guardrail and allows the council to raise the cap however high it wants.

Just look to California, where the Westminster City Manager hired a consultant costing taxpayers $6,400 a month, which was below his purchasing limit of $175,000. The city council was never consulted and found out about the deal two months after the contract had been signed.

Prop 477 opens the floodgates for bureaucrats to spend in the dark, allowing politicians off the hook to wash their hands of unpopular purchases and preventing voters from reining in wasteful spending.

Propositions 476 and 477 are about empowering big unions and unelected bureaucrats to conduct more of the city’s business in the dark and out of the sight of taxpayers and their elected representatives.  Residents of Mesa should resoundingly reject both to protect their hard-earned dollars and retain their power to hold politicians accountable at the ballot box.

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Big Spending from Out-Of-State Special Interests Shows Exactly Why Arizona Needs Props 129 and 132

by admin | Oct 27, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates, Tax

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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Prop 310 Is a Massive Tax Increase That Will Shrink Arizona Jobs

by admin | Oct 14, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates, Tax

Proponents of the Prop 310 tax increase tell voters it would cost just a penny when they buy coffee or just 10 cents when buying dinner to help fund “under-resourced” fire districts. But make no mistake, Prop 310 is a big tax hike. A new study by The Commonsense Institute, finds Prop 310 will cost taxpayers $5.5 billion over the next 20 years. On top of the bill footed by taxpayers, the Institute estimates it will result in the loss of thousands of jobs, shrinking our economy by $7.4 billion and reducing personal income by $8.55 billion over the lifetime of the tax.

Those are the consequences all 7 million Arizonans face under Prop 310 to fund fire districts that serve 1.5 million residents. These are the same districts with members who have been convicted of embezzling tens of thousands and even millions of taxpayer dollars for their own benefit, used the taxpayers’ debit card for thousands in personal purchases, and wastefully spent or mismanaged their existing tax dollars, racking up millions in pension debt.

Now they want a bailout from the rest of the state with a one-size-fits-all tax hike—a tax more than half of which will be allocated to just 12 districts that already make up more than half of the current revenue and spending. This means that under Prop 310, the best funded districts will be even better funded, while the worst funded will get the least, as the remaining 132 districts will get whatever is left over.

That’s the wrong approach.

Prop 310 isn’t just bad tax policy, it’s lazy legislating. Despite having a $5 billion surplus in 2022, lawmakers chose to refer a substantial tax increase to the ballot rather than prioritize accordingly. The legislature could have held actual hearings, received testimony, investigated the underlying issues in each of the districts, and worked to craft targeted solutions that don’t result in soaking all taxpayers. Instead, they avoided doing the real work, and punted their problems to the voters.

Voters should demand better from their lawmakers. After all, taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay more because politicians are bad at their jobs.

Instead, they rubber stamped a proposal that gives themselves no oversight and gives taxpayers no representation. The millions of Arizonans who don’t live in a fire district won’t have a vote. And those who do live in one district won’t have a vote in the other 143. Don’t like the way districts are spending your tax dollars? Too bad. With Prop 310, the tax isn’t going anywhere, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But there were and still are other options. The legislature will likely have another surplus next year, (thanks to prior tax cuts). Saying no to a tax hike doesn’t mean saying no to public safety. It means voters want lawmakers to do their jobs and come up with a plan that doesn’t burden taxpayers further. Arizona voters should do just that and vote no on Prop 310.

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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.