California Labor Groups File AZ Ballot Initiative to Unionize Hospital Workers

by admin | Oct 3, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates

After the Arizona Free Enterprise Club successfully advocated for initiative reform to crack down on circulator fraud and abuse, groups have been manically organizing to file their ballot initiatives before the new law took effect August 27^th 2019.

Just eking in on August 26^th was an initiative funded by California big-union Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW).   SEIU is best known in Arizona for picketing at hospitals as well as their failed attempt to qualify a ballot initiative in 2016 to cap hospital executives’ pay.  The political group formed to push the effort is “Healthcare Rising Arizona” which is perhaps fitting considering the inevitable rising costs the passage of this initiative would cause.

The unions plan to sell the measure to voters by codifying in Arizona statute provisions of Obamacare that prohibit discrimination based upon pre-existing conditions.  Additionally, it would address ‘surprise billing’ by prohibiting hospitals and ambulance services from charging an out-of-network patient above what their in-network cost sharing is, and mandates specified reimbursement rates for insurers to pay facilities, ambulances and providers.

The reality is that protections for pre-existing conditions and ‘surprise billing’ already exist in Arizona.  In fact, two years ago Arizona lawmakers passed legislation to create a dispute process for consumers who receive a surprise bill. 

So why would a California labor union spend millions to run a campaign in Arizona to pass laws that already exist?

The answer is the immediate 5 percent pay raise for all direct care hospital workers (including nurses, janitorial staff and food prep staff) that would go into effect upon passage.  Although the proponents admit these would be substantial costs that would likely be passed onto patients, it is a convenient way to set the stage to put Big Union bosses in charge of wages and benefits negotiations.  Furthermore, no data suggests that hospital workers are under paid; especially in Arizona where cost of living is affordable.

Finally, the initiative would increase regulatory burdens on private hospitals and require the Arizona Department of Health Services to levy major fines for falling short.  Increased red tape means higher administrative costs getting passed on to the consumer.

If Americans and especially Arizonans have learned anything from Obamacare it is that government intrusion into healthcare complicates the system, increases costs, and decreases choice. 

Although there is still plenty of time for proponents to collect signatures for the 2020 ballot, they won’t have to comply with new commonsense requirements to qualify circulators and ensure they’re not felons.  It is likely therefore that bad actors and paid union members will flood the streets for the 237,000 required signatures.  Hopefully voters will have a healthy sense of skepticism when approached with another big-government solution to their healthcare.

Ballot Measure Looking to Bring Back Ballot Harvesting to Arizona

by admin | Sep 23, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates

Frustrated by efforts to reduce election fraud and initiative abuse, a coalition led by a petition gathering firm and several Democrat operatives have decided to run an initiative. Dubbed the “Democracy and Accountability Act,” their proposed ballot measure would roll back several key election reforms, including the current prohibition on ballot harvesting in Arizona.

For those not familiar with ballot harvesting, this is a tactic used by labor unions and paid canvassers to go door to door and collect early ballots from voters. Often, political operations will go to apartment complexes or other high-density areas and ‘harvest’ ballots in key races, where a few votes might make a difference.

Ballot harvesting is incredibly intrusive and runs counter to the American tradition of a secret ballot. Unlike polling locations on election day where advocates are required to stay 75 feet from the voting stations to give voters privacy, activists and other hired guns can directly engage and pressure citizens while they are voting at their homes. 

It also is an invitation for voter fraud, especially given the fact that Arizona is predominantly an early voter state. Ballot harvesting pressure tactics have been documented, and both parties have been found to abuse the process. Given the opportunity for mischief, Arizona wisely banned the practice in 2016 and limited early ballot returns to immediate family members.

There is no reason to bring ballot harvesting back, unless the goal is to manipulate the election process and to make money for political operatives and unions that run these operations.

It also explains why the initiative includes several changes to the registration requirements for paid petition circulators as well. For years, petition firms have opposed any reforms that would prevent initiative fraud and abuse, primarily because it holds paid circulators accountable for wrongdoing (and by extension, the petition firms that hire them).

That’s bad for business, so their solution was to remove the requirement that the Secretary of State review the paid circulator registration forms for accuracy and to eliminate all penalties for skipping town and ignoring lawfully issued subpoenas during signature challenges.

The backers of this measure likely know that bringing back ballot harvesting and encouraging paid circulator registration fraud will not be popular with voters. In order to avoid this uncomfortable discussion, they included additional language that would crack down on potential conflicts of interest by politicians at the legislature. 

Though we appreciate the concern petition firms have about corruption and conflicts of interest at the legislature, it rings rather hollow when they are simultaneously looking to increase corruption (and profit) at the ballot box.

It is too early to say whether this measure will have enough money and support to qualify for the ballot. Even if it does, we are confident that voters won’t have too much trouble seeing through this obvious attempt to undermine the integrity of Arizona’s electoral process.

Cost for South Phoenix Light Rail Explodes to $1.35 BILLION Dollars

by admin | Jul 11, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates

Yesterday when the City of Phoenix and Valley Metro announced that they had received a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the South Phoenix light rail extension, they did not disclose to taxpayers that the projected cost to build the line has nearly DOUBLED—from $700 million to $1.35 Billion dollars.  At $245 Million per mile, the South Phoenix line is now one of the most expensive light rail extensions in the country.

“It is amazing that no one in City Hall or Valley Metro notified the public of these rampant cost overruns,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “The scariest part for taxpayers is that they haven’t even broke ground on the project, so the price tag will likely go even higher before they are finished.”

To pay for the ballooning cost of the extension, Phoenix taxpayers are on the hook for $540 million, up from $195 million in 2018. “Neither Phoenix or Valley Metro have explained how they are going to pay for this, or what happens when the cost goes even higher,” Mussi Continued. “Taxpayers have a right to know what roadway projects will be cancelled to fund this boondoggle.”

This isn’t the first time Valley Metro has been forced to revise the projected cost for the South Phoenix extension. In November of 2015, Valley Metro estimated the capitol cost for the project to be no more than $530 Million Dollars.   

In August, Phoenix residents will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 105, which would stop the expansion of the South Phoenix line and divert those funds to other needed roadway and transportation improvements. “With light rail costs spiraling out of control, voters would be wise to stop the bleeding before it is too late.” Mussi said.

The 2015 cost estimate for the South Phoenix project can be viewed HERE. The most recent cost estimate for the South Phoenix project can be viewed HERE.

Phoenix Proposition 106 Will Help Fix the Phoenix Pension Crisis

by admin | Jul 2, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates

The City of Phoenix has been living beyond their means for way too long.  Their fiscal irresponsibility has led to a crushing $5.7 Billion in unfunded pension debt and no real plan on how to pay it off or honor their commitments to current or future retirees.

The City of Phoenix Employees’ Retirement System (COPERS), the retirement plan for general employees excluding sworn police and fire personnel, is woefully underfunded.  The City contributed less than $30M a year to COPERS in the early 2000’s; this is expected to balloon to over $180M by next year.   Yet these payments still won’t put a dent in the mountain of debt.  As of only two years ago, the fund was only 57 percent funded – having $2.35B in assets to cover $4.13B in liabilities.

Despite several propositions passing in the past to right the ship – Phoenix is still severely underwater.  That is because the city has a major spending problem.  And instead of addressing this problem, politicians have continued to kick the can down the road, using accounting tricks and other sneaky maneuvers to avoid addressing the crisis.  

That is why a group of citizens and Councilman Sal DiCiccio has pushed to get Prop 106 on the August 27^th ballot. If approved by voters, this measure will end the budget gimmicks, require honest accounting of pension costs and prioritize paying down the debt of the pension system. The measure will also prohibit the city’s budget from outpacing inflation plus population and put a cap on spending until pension liabilities are funded at 90 percent.

This will put the city’s pension system on a sustainable path and ensure that pension obligations are met.

Prop 106 is a responsible plan for a growing problem that will benefit both taxpayers and retirees. We encourage Phoenix citizens to Vote Yes on Prop 106.

The Legislature Takes Aim at Election Integrity Reform

by admin | Mar 1, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates

Every American, no matter their political party, should have a significant interest in the wholesale integrity of the election process.  And yet the business of ensuring citizens voting is honest, clean and untampered with, has been a fiercely partisan issue, dividing Republicans and Democrats into two camps: the party for election integrity and the party against “voter suppression.”

The integrity of the elections systems is two-fold: ensuring there are legal and procedural safeguards to maintain clean and accurate voting rolls and preventing, discovering and deterring fraudulent activity.

One would think that maintaining up to date voter rolls would be an innocuous issue.  After all, neglecting to do so all but guarantees records will be cluttered with deceased persons and those who have moved out of state. In a 2012 study, the Pew Research Foundation found that 24 million voter registrations in the United States were either invalid or significantly inaccurate – that is one in every eight registrants.  This vast vulnerability directly dovetails into susceptibility of election fraud.

The issue of election fraud is as old as elections themselves and take form in a variety of ways including – double voting, ineligible voting, and voter registration fraud, etc. Yet, this type of crime is notoriously difficult to catch, document, and enforce, which makes the problem significantly underreported.

Following the Arizona general elections of 2018, many voters voiced concerns over how specifically the Maricopa County recorder’s office conducted operations.  And given the thin margins in many of the state-wide races, a little bit of fraud can have a big effect.

As a result, several Arizona lawmakers have introduced legislation to insert more practical checks into the system to both scrub voter rolls and fills cracks where the system is susceptible to fraud.

The best batch of election integrity bills have been introduced by Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R) and include:

• SB 1046 requires voters who receive a ballot by mail to return that ballot by mail. If they do not, they may vote in person on election day with a standard ballot.  Practically, this bill helps prevent the illegal practice of ballot harvesting.
• SB 1072 requires voters to show identification when voting at an early voting location. This makes the identification requirements consistent across all methods of in-person voting.  And although Democrats want to claim the basic function of showing I.D is burdensome to voters, 76 percent of Americans believe such requirements should be mandatory.
• SB 1188 requires a county recorder to remove a voter from the permanent early voting list and cease sending them early ballots if the elector has not voted in two consecutive primary or general elections.
• SB 1090 requires electors voting at an emergency voting center to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they did in fact suffer an emergency. Also requires the County Board of Supervisors to sign off on location, quantity and hours of emergency voting centers.

Given the reasonable proposals being suggested, one might be surprised by the very vocal fidelity of the left to the notion that 1. Fraud doesn’t exist, 2. When it does it is insignificant, and 3. Any legal framework that inserts predictable rules and guidelines into the system disenfranchises voters.

This is less surprising when you consider the bills drafted by Democrat legislators this year which take a free-for-all approach.  Their philosophy seems to be the more votes cast the better – even if those votes are duplicative, unverified, or non-citizens.  These bills include repealing the prohibition of ballot harvesting, same-day voter registration, and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons.

These election integrity bills are important steps to shore up weakness in Arizona’s election process.  Despite the left’s effort to diminish the relevance of the election integrity issue, the real disenfranchisement of voters comes from diluting the votes of honest electors. Allowing for the erosion of the system casts doubt into the minds of citizens as to if their vote even counts – and that is true voter suppression.