Friday, August 15, 2008

Proposition updates...

On Friday, the Arizona Secretary of State's office disqualified Prop 103, the Conserving Arizona's Water and Land Initiative, from the ballot, saying that more than 158,000 signatures out of the 369,000 submitted were determined to be invalid.

In the press release, she blamed the use of paid petition gatherers for the high number of invalid signatures this year.

From the press release -
“It seems very clear to me this year that the unfortunate practice of paying circulators by the signature seems to directly correlate to the significant amount of bad signatures being collected,” stated Sec. of State Brewer. “As I have called for in the past, the Legislature should look closely at this problem and at the problem of privately funded voter registration drives that aren't properly getting people registered,” added Sec. Brewer, “In the end both of these problems are negatively affecting this years' petition process as being among the largest failure rates in the history of our state.”

The status of other propositions:

Prop 100, Protect Our Homes/No New Home Tax - certified for the ballot. If passed, would bar the state from instituting a sales/transfer tax on real estate. Supported by realtors.

Prop 101, Medical Choice For Arizona - disqualified from the ballot but apparently later placed back on the ballot by court decision. Would bar the state from implementing a universal health care plan or from regulating out-of-state insurers. Supported by the Republican Party, Big Insurance, and Big Health Care; opposed by anyone who understands that paying lots of money to health insurers is no guarantee of effective health care, just lots of insurance company profits.

Prop 102, the legislature's anti-same sex marriage amendment to the state constitution - certified for the ballot upon passage by the lege. If passed, would amend Arizona's constitution to bar same-sex marriage. Supported by the Center for Arizona Policy, the Republican Party, and other schoolyard bullies in three-piece suits. Opposed by most Democrats, many Libertarians, and the gay and lesbian community (I expect that most Greens oppose this too, but since I don't know any personally, I can't ask them :) .)

Prop 103 - discussed above.

Prop 104, The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative - pending. If certified for the ballot and passed, would bar affirmative action and other anti-discrimination programs. Supported by Ward Connerly, Randy Pullen, and the Republican Party; opposed by decent people everywhere.

Prop 105. Majority Rules - Let the People Decide - pending. If certified for the ballot and passed, would require that any ballot measures that increased taxes or government spending pass with the votes of a majority of registered voters, not just voters casting their ballots. Given that voter turnout in good years ranges from 60% (off years) to 75% (presidential election years), this measure would make it all but impossible to pass any new taxes or increase spending. Think of it as the "anti-tobacco tax for children's health care" initiative. Supported by the Republican Party; opposed by the Arizona Education Association, the Arizona School Boards Association, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Professional Firefighters of Arizona, and anyone else who favors fiscally responsible governance.

Prop 200, the Payday Loan Reform Act - certified for the ballot. If passed, would make permanent the law allowing payday loan operations, which is due to expire (in 2010, I think.) Supported by the payday loan industry in Arizona and House Speaker Jim Weiers (almost the same thing there); opposed by Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 99, and consumer advocates and community groups across the state.

Prop 201, Homeowners Bill Of Rights - certified for the ballot. If passed, would establish warranties by homebuilders and set out rights and legal remedies for homeowners. Rabidly opposed by the homebuilders; strongly supported by the Sheetmetal Workers Union. And homeowners. And anyone who hopes to ever own a home.

Prop 202, Stop Illegal Hiring - certified for the ballot. If passed, would amend the state's current employer sanctions law. Supported by businesses; roundly opposed by Russell Pearce and the state's nativists.

Prop 203, Transportation and Infrastructure Moving Arizona's Economy ("TIME") Act - disqualified from the ballot, but there is a lawsuit pending to restore it to the ballot. If it makes the ballot and is passed, it would increase the state's sales tax by 1 cent to fund improvements to the state's transportation infrastructure. Supported by Governor Napolitano and the business community; opposed by the Republican Party.

Prop 300, would increase the salaries of state legislators to $30,000 per year. Opposed by people who have been ticked off by something that the lege has or hasn't done and think that all elected officials are bums; supported by people who figure you get what you pay for, and right now we are paying crap. Guess which group I fall into. Hint: not the first group. :))

Updates on the two remaining measures awaiting to be certified (Props 104 and 105) as they become available.

Have a good weekend...

2 comments:

Thane Eichenauer said...

I call foo on your proposition 104 comments.
Affirmitive action IS discrimination _not_ anti-discrimination.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Unknown said...

Out-Of-State Health Plan With Government Ties First To Fund Prop. 101 Opposition Campaign

Big Government, Big Hospitals Begin Effort to Prevent Medical Choice

PHOENIX, Arizona (September 23, 2008) — The opposition group formed against the Medical Choice for Arizona initiative received its first campaign contribution from an out-of-state health system with big contracts with the state of Arizona.

SCAN Health Plan out of Los Angeles, which has had some of the highest patient complaint rates of any health plan in California in the past, made the first contribution to the committee formed last week to fight medical choice.

The “no” campaign is being coordinated by the Arizona Hospital Association, representing the big-money Arizona hospitals that want to make sure nothing happens that would affect their profit margins, according to Dr. Eric Novack, chairman of Medical Choice for Arizona.

“It is not surprising that the same groups that can afford $2 billion in new hospital building while settling lawsuits for overcharging the uninsured will say or do anything to put their money and power ahead of the health of Arizonans,” Novack said.

This comes on the heels of false claims made by big government health care agencies that Proposition 101 would somehow affect AHCCCS, claims that were debunked last week by an independent legal analysis by the Goldwater Institute.

“We have seen the enemy, and now we know it is the enemy we have been fighting all along,” Novack said. “We know it’s going to be the big government bureaucrats and the very special interests who would benefit the most from the elimination of our right to make our own health care decisions and protect the ability of Arizonans to be in control of their health and health care.

“The fact that these special interests and government agencies are so worried just underscores the need for Proposition 101,” Novack said. “We have to make sure that Arizonans are not limited in their health care choices, which is just what these big hospitals and big government agencies want to do.”

Proposition 101 will preserve and protect the rights of individuals to make their own health care and health insurance choices.

Currently, many lobbyists and special interest groups in Arizona and around the country are promoting policies that would limit or even eliminate the ability of people to have choices when seeking out health care for themselves and their families.

This initiative will guarantee the right of Arizonans to make their own health care choices. Lobbyists and special interests will see their power to control and dictate health care choices limited. The language of the initiative is simple:

BECAUSE ALL PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR HEALTH CARE, NO LAW SHALL BE PASSED THAT RESTRICTS A PERSON’S FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF PRIVATE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS OR PRIVATE PLANS OF ANY TYPE. NO LAW SHALL INTERFERE WITH A PERSON’S OR ENTITY’S RIGHT TO PAY DIRECTLY FOR LAWFUL MEDICAL SERVICES, NOR SHALL ANY LAW IMPOSE A PENALTY OR FINE, OF ANY TYPE, FOR CHOOSING TO OBTAIN OR DECLINE HEALTH CARE COVERAGE OR FOR PARTICIPATION IN ANY PARTICULAR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM OR PLAN.

Visit www.YesOn101.com for more information.