In The News: Arizona Republic Political Notebook
October 28, 2008
Link to Blog
Oct. 26, 2008The rationale behind Proposition 105 - which requires initiatives that raise taxes or spend money to pass with a majority of registered voters, not just a majority of those voting - is that tax-and-spending measures should be subject to a higher standard.
To judge just how tough a standard Proposition 105 imposes, I was curious about how many ballot measures in the state’s history, whether initiated or referred by the Legislature, had met it.
In Arizona’s very first election, in 1912, voters were enthused and turned out heavily - almost all 21,617 of them. They approved 13 ballot measures, 12 of them by a majority of those registered to vote.
After that, it wasn’t until 1968 that a ballot measure passed with a majority not just of those voting but of those registered. That was a referendum to exempt household goods from taxation.
Since then, there have been only two ballot measures that met the Proposition 105 standard, both in 1992 - one making lethal injection, rather than gassing, the only option for carrying out the death penalty; the other imposing term limits on state legislators.
So, the Proposition 105 standard isn’t just tough; it’s practically impossible. And given its expansive definition of spending, Proposition 105 does threaten to largely shut down the citizen initiative process in Arizona.
Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8472. His column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Read his blog at robbblog.azcentral.com.
