Guide to 2018 Ballot Propositions

Proposition 125 

State Constitutional Amendment Relating to Public Retirement Systems

Proposition 125 was referred to the ballot by the Legislature in order to facilitate the enactment of two laws passed during the last Legislature, SB1442 from 2017, and HB2545 from 2018. These two bills have to do with Correctional Officers Retirement Plan (CORP), and Elected Officials Retirement Plan (EORP) respectively. Prop. 125 would allow the following to happen:

Correctional Officers Retirement Plan (CORP)

  • For defined contribution plan members hired prior to July 1, 2018, allow the CORP board to adjust the amount of total compensation considered for retirement purposes based on IRS guidelines. 
  • For defined contribution plan members hired on or after July 1, 2018, caps the total compensation considered for retirement purposes at $70,000 annually. 
  • The compensation limit will be adjusted each third year by average changes in probation employee wages, with the first adjustment made in 2022. 
  • Creates a uniform annual cost of living adjustment for retired probation/correctional officers receiving a pension. (Currently any benefit increase depends on whether and how much the fund’s investments increased over the previous year.) 
  • For those hired prior to July 1, 2018, the adjustment will be the rate of inflation or 2%, whichever is less. 
  •  For those hired on or after July 1, 2018, the adjustment will be between 1% and 2% annually for retired members based on the projected liabilities of the system. 

 Elected Officials Retirement Plan (EORP) 

  • Creates a uniform cost of living adjustment for retired elected officials and judges receiving a pension. 
  • The adjustment will be the rate of inflation or 2%, whichever is less. 

The conditions outlined above were enacted by the Legislature in separate legislation, as part of a broader effort to resolve long term solvency concerns about the correctional officer and elected officials retirement systems. The proposition does not contain these provisions explicitly, rather you are voting to allow them to go into effect. If the proposition fails, they will not take effect and the current statutes will remain as they are now. Because the proposal passed by the Legislature would impact the cost of living adjustment for current retirees, voter approval is required. 

 

Proposition 126 

State Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Taxation of Services Not Taxed as of Dec. 31, 2017. 

Proposition 126 would amend the Arizona Constitution as follows: 

  • Prohibits the state or any city, town, county, or other political subdivision or special taxing district from levying any tax, fee, or assessment of any kind on the privilege to engage in, gross receipts from sales, or gross income derived from, any service performed in Arizona. 

Arizona derives most of its state revenue from Transaction Privilege (sales) tax. Currently, the state levies a tax on the sale of goods and other specific categories, but it does not charge tax on services, such as real estate services, haircuts, medical services, spa treatments, veterinary services, etc. etc. The one exception to this is prime contracting (building contractors). 

Currently, without Proposition 126, the Constitution requires ⅔ of both houses of the Legislature to vote to impose an additional tax, rather than a simple majority. They Legislature may also refer a tax to the voters, or citizens can also initiate a ballot measure to impose a new tax. With Prop. 126, the Constitution would prohibit service taxes altogether, and an election to amend the Constitution would be required in order to levy a service tax of any kind. 

 

Friends of ASBA Position: NO 

 

Proposition 127 

State Constitutional Amendment Relating to Electricity Generation from Renewable Sources 

Proposition 127, broadly, would require any regulated electric utility to source 50% of the power it sells to retail customers from “renewable energy resources” by the year 2030, of which at least 10% must be from “distributed renewable energy resources.” The measure: 

  • Defines “renewable energy resource” as an energy resource that is replaced rapidly by a natural, ongoing process and that is not municipal solid waste combustion, trees larger than 12 inches in diameter, nuclear or fossil fuel. 
  • Restricts eligible renewable energy resources, except existing hydropower facilities, to facilities built after December 31, 1996. 
  • Existing hydropower facilities may only count additional generation capacity due to equipment upgrades as “renewable.” 
  • Defines “distributed renewable energy resource” as  an energy resource from distributed generation technologies including biogas electricity generators, biomass electricity generators, geothermal generators, fuel cells that use only renewable fuels, new hydropower generators of 10 mw or less, solar electricity resources, biomass thermal systems, biogas thermal systems, commercial solar pool heaters, geothermal space heating and process heating systems, renewable combined heat and power systems, solar daylighting, solar hvac systems, solar industrial process heating and cooling, solar space cooling, solar space heating, solar water heating, and wind generators of 1 mw or less and that is not municipal solid waste combustion, trees larger than 12 inches in diameter, nuclear or fossil fuel. 
  • Allows credits to be transferred from a power generator to another party to satisfy the requirements. 
  • States credits may be from any year, but once used are retired and may not be used again. 
  • Specifies the following energy targets:  
Year  Renewable  Distributed 
2020  12%  3% 
2021  14%  3.5% 
2022  16%  4% 
2023  20%  4.5% 
2024  24%  5% 
2025  28%  5.5% 
2026  32%  6% 
2027  36%  7% 
2028  40%  8% 
2029  45%  9% 
2030  50%  10% 

 

 

Proposition 305 

A Citizen Referendum of SB1431, relating to “Empowerment Scholarship Accounts” 

Proposition 305 is the exercise of a power that not all people in every state have…the power of referendum. That is, the ability to put a bill the Legislature passed and the governor signed on the ballot for approval or disapproval by the voters. 

SB1431 was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ducey in 2017. That summer, a group of education advocates collected enough signatures to halt its enactment and place it on the Nov. 2018 ballot for a final decision by the voters. The proposition is quite simple in its execution–do you want SB1431 to go into effect or not? A “YES” vote means you do, and “NO” vote means you do not. 

 

Friends of ASBA Position: NO 

 

Friends of ASBA does not support using public dollars to pay for a student’s private or religious education. Therefore, the organization has endorsed a NO on this proposition to prevent the expansion of ESAs/Vouchers from going into effect. If you do not know anything about the ESA/voucher program, and why Friends of ASBA opposes it, it might help you to watch this video 

A limited version of this program already exists. It is limited to particular populations of students. This proposition has nothing to do with it. If this measure fails, nothing happens to those on the current program. Rather, this proposition would gradually open it up to all students, regardless of circumstance, ability or income level, including Kindergarteners, who never have to attend public school to be eligible. It amounts to a taxpayer subsidy of private and religious education for any student. 

Complete Summary of SB1431 as enacted: 

Eligibility 

  • Expands Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) eligibility in the following ways: 
  • Students attending D or F school districts (as opposed to D or F schools only) are eligible with the next ESA application period. 
  • All students K-12 beginning in FY2020-2021, phased in over a three-year period. 
  • In 2017-2018, grades K, 1, 6, and 9. 
  • In 2018-2019, grades K-2, 6, 7, 9, and 10 
  • In 2019-2020, K-3, and grades 6-11 
  • In 2020, 2021, grades K-12 
  • Provides that a Kindergarten student who has never attended a public school is eligible to enroll in Kindergarten if the student is at least 4 but under 7 years of age. 
  • Allows ESA students attending a private school to remain on the ESA program until the student graduates from high school, obtains a GED, or reaches age 22 if the student remains enrolled in a private school, and allows the department of education to request confirmation of continued enrollment and progress toward graduation. 
  • Allows a student who has reached 18 and qualifies as a disabled student under the program to remain enrolled until age 22 or until the student obtains a GED with no requirement to remain enrolled in a private school, if the student continues to use at least 50% of the ESA amount each year. 

Enrollment Cap 

  • Continues the limit on new enrollment of .50% of the total number of public school students each year (approx. 5,500 annually) until December 31. 2022. 
  • Beginning in FY2022-2023, limits the number of students eligible for an ESA to the total number of students approved by the department during the 2021-2022 school year 

Funding Amount (higher amount for low income students) 

  • Clarifies that students transferring from a district school are eligible only for 90% of the amount that would be provided to the district of last attendance. 
  • States a student whose family is low income (defined as 250% of the federal poverty guideline, or $60,750 for a family of 4) is eligible to receive 100% of the amount that would otherwise be awarded to the school district or charter school of attendance. 

Accountability 

  • Requires students enrolled in a private school only to annually complete a nationally standardized norm-referenced test, a college entrance exam that assesses reading and math, an AP exam that assesses reading and math, or AzMERIT. Does not apply to students with disabilities. 
  • Requires only those private schools enrolling 50 or more students receiving an ESA to publicly report assessment results on its own website, not to ADE. 

Administration 

  • Requires the department of revenue to administer the income eligibility requirements, and transfers 1% of the amount of an ESA retained for administration to be transferred to the department of revenue. 
  • Requires the treasurer to contract with a private financial management firm to administer Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. 
  • Requires ADE to allow an ESA account holder to give consent for a third party to apply for renewal and interact with ADE on the account holder’s behalf. 
  • Establishes requirements for the administration of ESAs by the department of education and the department of revenue. 
  • Establishes the nine-member empowerment scholarship account review council, consisting of: 
  • Six ESA parents, appointed by the governor. 
  • The House and Senate education committee chairs. 
  • The Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Superintendent’s designee. 
  • Repeals the council on December 31, 2020. 
  • Makes numerous technical and conforming changes. 

 

Proposition 306 

A Legislative Referral Relating to the Citizens’ Clean Election Commission 

Proposition 306 was referred to the ballot by the Legislature on the last day of the 2018 Legislative session. 

The clean elections system, which provides an amount of funding for candidates for state office in exchange for refusing private contributions and adhering to transparency requirements. It was created by initiative and is therefore unable to be amended by the Legislature, except in very narrow circumstances. To change it in a substantive way, the amendment must be referred back to the ballot for approval by the voters. That is what this measure is doing. 

Prop. 306 has two main provisions: 

  • Prohibits a candidate from making payments from the candidate’s campaign account to a tax-exempt organization eligible to engage in political activity, or to a political party, whether directly or indirectly 
  • Subjects the rules adopted by the Citizens’ Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) to review by the executive branch, via the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (GRRC). 

Do you know how your legislators voted on the ESA expansion?

Last week, the Arizona State Legislature voted to expand the empowerment scholarship account eligibility to all students by the school-year 2020-2021. This program uses your tax dollars to subsidize private school tuition in suburban areas. Check the table below to see how your elected officials voted. For more information on ESAs, click here.

Not sure who your representative is? Type your zip code in the search bar below to find out. Please note, some zip codes cut across multiple legislative districts if you want to find out who your members are, click here.

Zip Code State Legislative District
845317
845367
8500324
8500327
8500424
8500427
8500624
8500627
8500724
8500727
8500730
8500824
8500826
8500827
8500919
8500924
8500927
8500929
8500930
8501224
8501228
8501324
8501328
8501424
8501428
8501524
8501530
8501624
8501628
8501730
8501824
8501828
8501930
8502028
8502124
8502128
8502130
8502220
8502228
8502320
8502328
850241
8502415
8502420
8502715
8502720
8502828
8502920
8502928
8503129
8503130
8503215
8503220
8503228
8503319
8503329
8503426
8503427
8503519
8503529
8503719
8503729
8504026
8504027
8504119
8504127
8504226
8504227
8504319
8504418
8504427
8504518
8504818
8504827
8505015
8505120
8505130
8505320
8505415
8505423
8508315
850851
8508515
850861
8508615
850871
851188
8511816
8511916
8512016
851218
851228
8512211
851234
8512311
851288
851318
8513111
851328
851358
851378
851388
8513811
851394
8513911
851408
8514016
851418
8514111
851428
8514212
8514216
851438
8514511
851478
8517211
851738
851927
851928
851934
851938
8519311
851948
8520125
8520126
8520218
8520226
8520325
8520326
8520412
8520425
8520426
8520516
8520525
8520612
8520616
8520625
8520716
8520723
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8520816
8520912
8520916
8521017
8521018
8521026
8521212
8521216
8521325
8521523
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8521526
8522417
8522418
8522512
8522517
8522618
8522627
8523312
8523317
8523325
8523326
8523412
8523425
852488
8524817
8524827
8524912
8524917
8525023
8525026
8525028
8525123
8525124
8525126
8525128
8525323
8525328
8525415
8525423
8525428
8525515
8525523
8525625
8525626
8525723
8525724
8525726
8525823
8525826
8525923
8525926
8526023
852621
8526223
8526323
8526423
8526426
852661
8526615
8526623
8526823
8528124
8528125
8528126
8528127
8528218
8528226
8528318
8528326
8528327
8528418
8528617
8529512
8529517
8529612
8529616
8529712
8529717
8529812
8529817
8530129
8530130
8530220
8530221
8530230
8530321
8530329
8530330
8530420
8530521
8530529
8530620
8530621
8530713
8530721
8530729
8530815
8530820
8530821
8530822
8530913
8531015
8531022
853201
8532013
853214
853224
8532213
853234
8532313
8532319
853241
853255
853264
8532613
853285
853311
8533115
8533123
853321
853334
8533313
853345
8533513
8533521
853364
853374
853384
8533813
8533819
853398
8533919
8533927
8534013
8534019
8534029
853414
853421
8534213
8534222
853434
853445
8534520
8534521
8534530
853465
8534713
853485
853494
853504
8535013
8535121
8535213
8535319
853544
8535413
8535513
8535522
8535613
853575
853605
8536113
8536122
853621
8536321
853644
8536413
853654
8536513
8536713
853715
8537321
8537322
8537421
8537422
8537522
853771
8537913
8537921
8537922
8538120
8538121
8538220
8538221
8538222
853831
8538315
8538322
8538722
8538822
853901
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8539213
8539219
8539229
853954
8539513
8539519
8539613
8539622
855016
855018
855307
8553114
855337
8553314
8553414
8553514
855367
8553614
855398
8554014
855416
855427
855437
8554314
855446
855456
855458
8554523
8554614
855507
8555114
8555214
855536
855546
856012
8560211
8560214
8560314
8560514
8560614
8560714
8560814
8560914
8561014
856112
8561114
8561314
856142
8561414
8561514
8561614
8561714
856188
8561911
8561914
8562014
856212
856222
856238
8562311
856242
8562514
8562614
8562714
856292
8562914
8563014
856318
8563214
856332
856344
8563411
8563514
856372
8563714
8563814
856402
8564114
8564314
856452
8564514
856462
856482
8565014
8565311
8565411
856588
8565811
857013
857049
8570411
857053
857059
8570511
857062
857063
857072
8570710
857082
8571010
857112
8571110
857129
8571210
857132
857133
8571311
857142
857143
857159
8571510
857162
857169
8571610
857189
8571811
857192
857193
857199
8571910
857232
857243
857262
857302
8573010
8573014
857352
857353
857354
8573511
857362
857364
857379
8573711
857398
8573911
857419
857429
8574211
857439
8574311
857453
8574511
857463
857464
857472
8574710
8574714
8574810
8574814
857499
8574910
8574914
857509
8575010
8575511
857562
857563
857564
8575614
857573
859016
859017
859117
859126
859207
8592214
859236
859237
859247
859257
859267
859277
859286
859297
859307
859316
859317
859327
859336
859346
859347
859357
859367
859376
859387
859396
859407
859417
859426
860016
860017
860037
860046
860047
860116
860156
860167
860176
860186
860206
860207
860215
860225
860227
860236
860237
860246
860247
860256
860257
860287
860296
860297
860307
860317
860326
860327
860337
860347
860357
860367
860386
860397
860407
860427
860437
860447
860457
860466
860476
860477
860527
860537
860547
863011
863031
863051
863131
863141
863151
863201
863206
863207
863211
863221
863226
863231
863241
863246
863256
863261
863266
863271
863276
863291
863311
863316
863321
863331
863341
863351
863356
863366
863371
863377
863381
863431
863516
864015
864035
864045
864065
864095
864115
864117
864135
864265
864295
864315
864325
864335
864341
864345
864347
864356
864357
864365
864375
864385
864405
864415
864425
864435
864445
864447
864455
865027
865037
865047
865057
865067
865077
865087
865107
865117
865127
865147
865157
865207
865357
865387
865407
865447
865457
865477
865567
873287

Final Vote on SB 1431

State Legislative DistrictSenatorVoteRepresentativeVoteRepresentativeVote
1FANNYCAMPBELLYSTRINGERY
2DALESSANDRONGABALDÓNNHERNANDEZN
3CAJERO BEDFORDNGONZALESNVSALDATEN
4OTONDONFERNANDEZNRUBALCAVAN
5BORRELLIYCOBBYMOSLEYY
6ALLEN SYBARTONYTHORPEY
7PESHLAKAINBENALLYNDESCHEENIEN
8PRATTYCOOKYSHOPEY
9FARLEYNFRIESENPOWERS HANNLEYN
10BRADLEYNCLODFELTERNENGELN
11SMITHYFINCHEMYLEACHY
12PETERSENYFARNSWORTH EYGRANTHAMY
13MONTENEGROYMITCHELLYSHOOTERY
14GRIFFINYJOHNYNUTTY
15BARTOYALLEN JYCARTERN
16FARNSWORTH DYCOLEMANNTOWNSENDY
17YARBROUGHYMESNARDYWENINGERY
18BOWIENEPSTEINNNORGAARDY
19CONTRERASNCARDENASNESPINOZAN
20YEEYBOYERYKERNY
21LESKOYPAYNEYRIVEROY
22BURGESYLIVINGSTONYLOVASY
23KAVANAGHYLAWRENCEYUGENTI-RITAY
24HOBBSNALSTONNCLARKN
25WORSLEYYBOWERSYUDALLN
26MENDEZNBLANCNSALMANN
27MIRANDANBOLDINGNRIOSN
28BROPHY MCGEENBUTLERNSYMSY
29QUEZADANANDRADENCHÁVEZN
30MEZANVMARTINEZNNAVARRETEN

Click here to download the pdf.

Vote Yes on Prop 123

Support public education in Arizona and vote Yes on Prop 123 on May 17th, 2016.

Arizona 48th in Funding

Arizona’s spending per student ranks 48th in the nation at $8,599  per student in fiscal year 2013, a drop from 47th place in 2012. The national average is $12,380 per student. Only Idaho and Utah spend less than Arizona, according to the “U.S. Census Bureau Public Education Finances Report: 2013.” In funding from state sources alone, Arizona ranks lowest in the nation. Read more

View the US Census Bureau report

Minority Progress Report

The report provides a current ‘snapshot’ of the educational achievement of minority students in Arizona, from pre-k through postsecondary education. In addition, trend analyses of key educational indicators are also provided to give readers a sense of how the status of minority education in Arizona has changed over time.

Education’s Economic Impact

The more than 18,000 Arizona students who dropped out of high school in 2014 will produce $7.6 billion less economic activity over their lifetimes than if those same students had graduated, according to a new report by the Arizona Mayors Education Roundtable. – See more at: https://azednews.com/data-reports/

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George Orwell’s Animal Farm uses animals and objects to symbolize political figures and events who were included in the Russian Revolution. Stalin and Trotsky were a couple of the three main leaders post-revolution leading Russia after Lenin died. Though starting out with the concept that everybody was equal, it ended with Stalin rising to power. George Orwell, in Animal Farm, personifies Stalin and Trotsky with Snowball Napoleon. Snowball, representing Trotsky had numerous same characteristics in the process actions as Trotsky. Napoleon and Stalin had much of the identical things in common too.
Snowball (symbolizing Trotsky) was idealistic, intellectual, a good quality speaker, and wanted the modernization of Animal Farm. His views and ideas with regard to the revolution were simple. He needed to industrialize Animal Farm and spread the revolution to all or any farms throughout the world so, in turn, they can rule themselves and kick-out of humans. In to the displeasure of Napoleon, one other pig in charge, Snowball was the favored one and was liked by the whole set of animals. Snowball was exiled by Napoleon. Later Napoleon accused Snowball of working for the humans from the beginning and was declared a traitor.
Trotsky, an excellent speaker as well as a writer, was an ideologist, an intellectual who planned to industrialize Russia and also spread communism to the rest of the world. He had most same traits as Snowball. Trotsky gained many loyal followers throughout the years, nearly as snowball had done. Trotsky was actually a formidable opponent for Stalin; therefore Stalin knocked Trotsky right out of the game by exiling him last but not least assassinating him there. Both Trotsky and Snowball were faithful to their cause both sharing almost identical qualities. Napoleon, having much in common with Snowball did, however, have a very different personality together with a political view. Napoleon, having practical interests, was just enthusiastic about building upon Animal Farm. Still wanting industrialization, however not around Snowball. Napoleon was power-hungry and desired to knock any competition taken care of by all means necessary. Snowball was the military strategist, studying Julius Cesar, making him a menace to Napoleon’s time to rule Animal Farm. After exiling Snowball while he was actually a threat, he took covering the farm. Thereafter he did whatever he wanted to do with no interference or different opinion because he used fear tactics. Using dogs, which had been his personal bodyguards, the animals did what you were expected to do by Napoleon.