tobacco
The Arizona legislature violated the 1998 Voter Protection Act when it took $7million worth of tobacco tax interest out of a fund for education and put it in the general fund. The Voter Protection Act limits the legislature’s power to alter voter approved laws. The Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Fund was created by a 2006 ballot initiative and therefore subject to the protection of the Voter Protection Act.
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A proposed state constitutional amendment would create a fund to hold monies from a recent tobacco settlement. A ballot measure that provides more state support for tobacco prevention will be trumped by this amendment if it passes.