Arizona
After failing to get its desired result in 2008, the Republican-controlled Legislature will send two proposed amendments to the Arizona Constitution back to voters in 2010. The Arizona Senate voted Monday to refer to the ballot a ban on the preferential treatment of minorities and a ban on laws requiring individuals or employers to participate in a particular health-care system.
A new committee formed recently with the goal of supporting the 0.75-percent sales tax extension that the City of Prescott will be taking to voters in September. The campaign committee, called “Vote YES for Streets,” will be conducting a number of open house discussions on the topic in coming weeks. One of the open-house meetings will take place tonight, and two more are still to come in late June and mid-July.
A bill has advanced past comittee in the Arizona Senate that would continue to prohibit people from other states from circulating a petition, despite a federal court ruling last year stiking that ban down. The bill would also take away the ability of petition circulators to assist elderly or disabled voters with filling out a petition.
Arizonans will get a second chance to vote on a state Constitutional amendment giving them new health care rights under a resolution approved by the House on Thursday. The amendment would ban any rule mandating participation in a health care system. It also would guarantee a right to pay directly for health care services and to provide those services.
A “wrinkle” in the Taxpayer Protection Committee’s attempt to get a voter initiative on the ballot this fall will make things more difficult for the group, but apparently will not derail the effort. Committee Chairman Brad DeVries and Treasurer John Danforth both said Thursday that they are proceeding as planned, despite an early-June ruling by the City of Prescott that increases the required number of signatures.
A state House committee has endorsed new legislation to have Arizona voters decide whether to amend the Constitution to generally prohibit discrimination and favorable treatment by state and local government based on sex, race, ethnicity, color and national origin. The Government Committee’s 6-3 vote Wednesday sends the resolution calling for the ballot measure proposed for the 2010 general election ballot to the full House following a legal review.
Ballot Access News reports that Arizona Senate Bill 1091 has been assigned to a committee and will probably get a hearing.
Legislators took the first step Monday toward overhauling city elections in Tucson ”” changes previously rejected by the city’s own voters. With only one lawmaker in opposition, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would erase party affiliation from city elections. Also, if HB 1123 becomes law, it would abolish Tucson’s longtime system in which its council members are nominated by ward but are elected citywide.
In a crushing defeat for backers of a proposal to raise Casa Grande’s sales tax to build a Major League Baseball training center, the issue was defeated Tuesday night by more than a 3-1 margin.
Gov. Jan Brewer upped the ante Monday in Arizona’s high-stakes budget battle, releasing a proposal that would increase taxes, cut spending, sell state assets and lean on the federal government for assistance in closing a shortfall that her office now estimates at $4 billion.
A bill moving through the Arizona House would amend the constitution to guarantee consumers a choice in healthcare. The measure ban forcing anyone to participate in a healthcare program, as well as protect the right of consumers to pay directly for health services. If the bill passes the state legislature it would then go on to a vote of the people before taking effect.
The 15-year renewal of the city of Yuma’s 2 percent hospitality tax on hotels, restaurants and bars goes into effect July 1, the day the tax would have ceased if voters during a special election May 19 hadn’t approved a ballot issue to extend it.
After failing to qualify an initiative for the 2008 ballot, backers of a measure that aims to stop affirmative action in government hiring and contracting decisions are setting their sights on the 2010 election cycle.
Medical marijuana advocates have filed notice with the Arizona Secretary of State that they intend to gather signatures in an effort to place an initiative on the 2010 ballot to ask voters to legalize smoking pot by patients who get a recommendation from a doctor.
State lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban petition circulators for initiatives and referendums from being paid based upon the number of signatures they collect.