Newswire
Arizona voters may be asked a second time this year to raise their own taxes, this time to keep the state from reducing the number of people who get free health care. The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association is working with consultants on an initiative it hopes will make it to the ballot in November. It would raise money to stop the state from cutting more than 310,000 people from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program.
Damascus voters, two years after approving initiatives severely limiting their city’s financial authority, reversed course Tuesday night by rejecting four measures that would have substantially limited the city’s powers to operate. The measures’ backers said they were disappointed with the outcome, saying it will thwart greater citizen oversight of local government spending. Damascus Mayor Jim Wright, however, called it “a great result.” “It appears as if we finally got through to most of the voters in the city to get involved,” Wright said.
Opponents of a proposal to raise Iowa City’s bar entry age have begun a petition to do just the opposite. Organizers filed papers Monday with the city to petition for a public vote that would lower the bar entry age to 18 after 10 p.m. They hope the move will thwart the possibility of the city council changing the current ordinance, which allows bars to admit 19-year-olds, to only grant entry to those 21 or older.
Township voters seemingly rejected the $2.9 million Foley Field bond issue during a special referendum held March 9. Tuesday’s five-hour referendum unofficially tallied 1,194 votes against the initiative and 1,084 in favor as of Tuesday night. The final tally could still be impacted the inclusion of provisional ballots; those numbers were not expected until Wednesday (after this newspaper’s press time), according to school officials. Approximately eight percent of Bloomfield’s 27,964 registered voters visited the polls, according to unofficial results.
Proponents of a California ballot initiative that would end state raids of city, redevelopment and transit money predict they will collect sufficient signatures well ahead of a May deadline. “It’s the most popular initiative on the street,” said Chris McKenzie, executive director of League of California Cities. “It leads with the three most popular three words in California, ‘Prohibits the state … .’” The Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 would strip the state of access to all tax dollars earmarked for local non-education agencies.
Petitioners gathered more than enough signatures to put a voter ID initiative on Mississippi’s November 2011 ballot that will include candidates for governor and other offices, the state’s top elections official said Monday. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said his office had determined 131,678 signatures of registered voters were collected. That’s significantly more than the minimum 89,285 needed. Republican organizers, led by Sen. Joey Fillingane of Petal, spent about a year collecting signatures and submitted them in February.
Monday morning’s “AirTalk” featured a debate on the greenhouse gas emissions rollback (AB 32) signed into law four years ago. AB 32’s supporters claim it will not only set an example for the rest of country, but spur the in-state development of green technologies that could create jobs and expand our local economic base. However, opponents of the measure are gathering signatures for a November initiative that would shelve AB 32 until unemployment drops below 5.5-percent for four consecutive quarters.
Expect debate over Amendment 4 to help heat up Florida’s already-hot summer. The amendment will be on the ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2. If approved by a 60-percent majority statewide, the constitutional amendment will allow Floridians to veto changes to their community-growth master plans that have been approved by local officials.
The push to get the wet-dry issue on Boone County’s ballot was on in Harrison. Petitioners worked throughout the weekend to gather additional signatures. “I think people should be able to vote. That’s what we are all about is voting, right,” said one person signing a petition. The Buhr family quickly signed, saying Harrison’s economy would flourish if tax dollars weren’t being spent elsewhere.
A proposed North Dakota ballot measure that requires state lawmakers to read bills before they vote on them will be turned in to the secretary of state on Tuesday. Jerrol LeBaron has been promoting the measure, and he says retired Bismarck businessman Dave Wolfer has agreed to be chairman of the initiative’s sponsoring committee. The measure says lawmakers have to certify that they’ve read a bill before they vote to approve it. Finished versions of bills also have to be posted on the Internet for at least four days before there’s a final vote.