By Bob Christie
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX – Voters across Arizona will see their November ballot stuffed with 11 measures referred by Republican lawmakers that cover a wide range of GOP priorities -- tough on crime issues, new limits on how voters can put their own proposed laws on the ballot and reining in the so-called ``regulatory state.''
But at the top of the GOP wish list is a wide-ranging border security measure that Republicans see as a key election-year issue and a counter to a Democrat-backed citizen initiative that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
That sets up a classic skirmish between the two parties for voters’ attention: backers of abortion rights versus opponents of the Biden Administration’s border policies.
Democrats point to the border proposal and others put on the ballot with only GOP support as divisive red-meat measures designed to get around opposition from the minority party in the state Legislature and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto stamp.
They hope they can get voters to reject the Legislature's referrals while approving the abortion initiative which will be on the ballot if backers turn in the required signatures by the July 3 deadline as expected. Democrats view the abortion issue as a major turnout driver that has broad support, particularly from women and younger voters.
For their part, Republicans see the immigration enforcement measure their party’s lawmakers put on the ballot as one that will motivate voters across the political spectrum.
And that’s how independent Arizona pollster Mike Noble sees it too: Topline issues that cross political lines while still appealing strongly with their base voters.
``They’re both base issues and they both cut across the middle,'' Noble said. ``Immigration, border security, is a wedge issue for Republicans and abortion is a wedge issue for Democrats. It’s that simple.''
State Sen. Priya Sundareshan, a Tucson Democrat, said her party will be pushing voters to back only the abortion measure and reject all of those Republican lawmakers placed on the ballot.
``We’ll be focused on abortion and 'no’' on everything else,'' Sundareshan said. ``That’s the way I view it.''
Republican House Speaker Ben Toma defended all 11 ballot referrals GOP lawmakers want Arizona voters to pass, calling them common-sense, thoughtful measures that deserve a look from the electorate.
``Most of these are just decent, decent ideas and things that really should have gotten the governor’s signature,'' Toma said, while noting that some will spur legitimate disagreement. ``But by and large, I don't think there's anything here that is shocking or unexpected.''
The just-ended legislative session saw Republicans who hold one-vote majorities in the state House and Senate send seven measures to the ballot, including the broad border enforcement law that mimics one adopted by Texas that is currently blocked by the courts. Four were placed on this fall's ballot by the majority party last year, bringing the total to 11, though three face court challenges.
The border proposal allows local law enforcement to arrest people who are believed to have sneaked across the Mexican border into Arizona and charges local superior court judges with jailing them if they don’t voluntarily leave.
The measure also contains provisions criminalizing applying for federal, state or local benefits if a person isn't legally in the U.S. and boosting penalties for selling fentanyl if the drug leads to a death.
It is modeled after a border security law passed last year in Texas which is expected to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The last time the justices addressed the issue was in 2012 when they rejected much of Arizona's SB1070, a previous effort by the state to boost immigration enforcement. In reaching that decision, the high court confirmed immigration enforcement is the sole purview of the federal government.
Texas Republicans and GOP backers of the Arizona proposal hope the Supreme Court’s new conservative majority will overrule that precedent and let states enforce laws designed to crack down on illegal immigration.
The national backlash from SB1070 left the state reeling as Arizona was hit with boycotts, the business community leaned on GOP lawmakers to back off the issue and the key sponsor, then-Senate President Russell Pearce, was recalled from office. Pearce died last year. The business community is again lined up against the new border measure.
Hobbs vetoed a similar proposal passed by the Legislature earlier this year before Toma resurrected it and got his GOP colleagues to bypass her and send it directly to the ballot.
In addition to the border measure, GOP lawmakers sent six other measures to the ballot in the session that ended on June 15, on top of the four from last year.
Some measures would need to go before voters no matter what lawmakers think because they change the constitution.
That’s the case with two targeting how citizens can put their own proposed laws before voters. Previously approved voter initiatives have raised the minimum wage, legalized marijuana and boosted taxes on the wealthy, although that 2018 initiative was struck down by the state Supreme Court.
Republican lawmakers chaff at the result of those initiatives and have worked for years to make it harder to get them on the ballot, either though changes in the law or revisions to the state constitution that require voter approval. But they're not sky about placing their own referrals before the electorate.
Initiative backers have to collect signatures from 10% of registered voters, or 15% if the proposal amends the state constitution. Laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor can be referred to the ballot if opponents collect signatures from 5% from voters, who then can approve or reject them.
The measure Republicans put before voters would requires those percentages to be collected from each of the state's 30 legislative districts, making it exponentially more difficult to gather enough signatures.
``This is a terrible idea because we should not empower one legislative district to veto the idea, just one district,'' Senate Minority Mitzi Epstein said during last year’s vote to send the measure to the ballot. ``If you believe in our democratic republic, this is a terrible idea.''
Sundareshan said during the same vote that the measure is part of the years-long effort by Repubicans to ``chip away'' at the people’s right to enact their own laws when the Legislature fails to do so.
``This is just one heavy, heavy burden we are adding into that signature collection process,” Sundareshan said of the new signature-collection proposal.
Republicans argued that the measure gives voters in rural Arizona a voice they don't currently have, since petition circulators often get a majority of the needed signatures from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous. Democrats noted in response that no matter where the signatures are collected, voters across the state cast ballots for or against a proposal.
``I support this bill because this will require that it be demonstrated that there is support throughout the state for a change to our constitution or a referral of a bill that was passed to the voters,'' said Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. ``And I think that’s more democratic than the current system.''
A second ballot referral targeting initiatives would allow opponents to sue before it actually makes the ballot. Challenges of signatures are already common, so initiative proponents could need to defend another aspect of their proposal before it goes on the ballot.
All this comes as proponents are collecting signatures to put several initiatives of their own before voters. In addition to the abortion measure, two others are likely to turn in enough signatures by July 3 to qualify: one raising the state minimum wage and eliminating lower wages allowed for workers who also earn tips, and one that eliminates partisan primaries in the state and put in place a ranked-choice voting system for the general election.
But GOP lawmakers are ready for the latter: They already have out their own proposed constitutional measure on the November ballot to require partisan primary elections with just one person from each party advancing to the general election.
That's a de facto ban on ranked choice voting, which proponents say forces moderation by candidates.
Another measure sent to the ballot by GOP lawmakers would eliminate the requirement that judges chosen by the governor through the merit-selection process must face voters every four or six years.
More immediately, it is worded to protect Katnryn King and Clint Bolick, two Arizona State Supreme Court justices who were among the four who voted this March to allow enforcement of a territorial-era law outlawing abortion except to save the life of the mother. The pair, seeking new six-year terms, are being targeted by abortion rights backers in a retention election this fall.
Toma said no judge should be kicked off a court because they made a legal decision that upset some voters. And he said voters just don't have the means to evaluate the dozens of local, appellate and Supreme Court judges that are often on the ballot, especially in larger counties.
``Secondly, the ones that don't get retained were really just being targeted,'' Toma said.
``There have been a few judges that did a great job as judges, but they were targeted by far left progressive groups,'' he said. ``And as such, I don't think that's right,'' adding ``That how you lead to the tyranny of the majority.”
Sundareshan scoffed at that, noting GOP lawmakers ``conveniently'' had the judicial retention measure ready to introduce when the state’s old total abortion ban was allowed by the high court to be enforced.
The judicial retention measure and one backed by the state restaurant association that would change Arizona’s minimum laws for tipped workers are being challenged in court, as is the border security proposal. If all are kicked off the ballot, there will be just eight measures put there by Republican lawmakers up for a vote in November -- plus whatever voter-proposed initiatives qualify by July 3.
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On Twitter: @AZChristieNews
List of measures already placed on the ballot by the Legislature. not including three pending citizen initiatives which do not have to be filed until Wednesday:
* Measures that face current legal challenges that could keep them off the Nov. 5 ballot.
Arizona voters in November will see from eight to 11 measures on their ballots put there by Republican lawmakers in the past two sessions. The total will depend on the outcome of legal challenges filed against three of the ballot referrals.
All were passed with only support from majority Republicans. Democrats call them ways to gin up voter sentiment and get around opposition from minority lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, while Republicans backing them say they are common-sense proposals. Some change the constitution and require voter approval.
Placed on the November 2024 ballot by Legislature in 2023:
HCR2039/Proposition 135 -- Governor’s emergency powers:
Amends the constitution to require the termination of any emergency powers granted to the Governor during a state of emergency 30 days after the proclamation unless extended by the Legislature, with some exceptions. Requires the governor to call a special legislative session on the emergency if 1/3 of lawmakers sign a petition.
HCR2033/Proposition 133 -- Ranked Choice Voting ban:
Amends constitution to require state and local governments to only use the traditional primary election process. That allows political party voters to choose one person (or more in cases where more seats are being chosen, such as in the House or Corporation Commission) to be placed on the general election ballot. If passed, it would be a de facto ban on ranked-choice voting.
SCR1006/Proposition 311 -- Line of duty deaths:
Amends constitution to require Arizona to pay $250,000 to the surviving spouse or dependent of a first responder killed in the line of duty through 2033 and establishes a $20 penalty fee on every criminal conviction to pay for the new benefit. A first responder is any peace officer, firefighter, fire marshal or emergency medical technician or paramedic. Broadens criminal law to allow more serious assault charges to be brought against anyone assaulting a first responder; previous law only covered law enforcement officers.
SCR1015/Proposition 134 -- Qualifying citizen initiatives:
Changes the state constitution to require proponents of citizen initiatives or referrals to collect signatures from all 30 legislative districts. Currently the law requires signatures from 10 percent of voters to propose new laws and 15% for all constitutional amendments with no geographical requirements. Referring a law signed by the governor for repeal or confirmation takes 5%.
Passed the Legislature this year and placed on the November ballot:
HCR 2023/Proposition312 -- Homeless as a public nuisance:
Requires local governments to refund property taxes if a property owner can show they've had expenses because the government did not enforce laws or had a practice or policy of not mitigating problems associated with the homeless population.
SCR 1012 -- Regulation costs:
Requires the Legislature to approve or reject any regulation adopted by a state agency and approved by the governor’s rulemaking review agency that may lead to costs to businesses of more than $500,000 over five years.
SCR1021/Proposition 313 -- Life in prison for child sex trafficking:
Increases penalty for a first offense of crimes defined as child sex trafficking from a presumptive 20 years in prison to a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole.
SCR1041 -- Initiative challenges:
Changes constitution to allow anyone to challenge the constitutionality of a proposed initiative in court if they bring the challenge at least 100 days before the election. If a court determines it violates the state or federal constitution, it will not be placed on the ballot.
* SCR1044 -- Eliminates judicial retention elections:
Changes constitution to eliminate the regular retention elections for trial, appellate and supreme court judges. Replaces it with elections that are held only if the judge commits certain crimes, files for bankruptcy or has a foreclosure or has performance issues. Chief justice of the Supreme Court decides if judges must have an election. Would be retroactive, meaning any judge not retained by voters in November would still keep their seat. Small counties would retain their current system of election of judges. Elected judges in small counties not.
* SCR1040 -- Tipped wages:
Constitutionally changes Arizona minimum wage law to allow restaurants and other businesses that have employees who earn tips to pay up to 25% less than the minimum wage if the employer can prove that those workers actually earn at least $2 per hour more than the minimum wage.
* HCR2060 -- Border immigration enforcement:
Allows law enforcement officers to arrest and jail people who crossed the border from Mexico into the U.S. outside of a port of entry on a new state ``illegal entry'' charge. Allows judges to order those convicted of illegal entry deported after serving a sentence and requires state prisons to hold them if local jails are full. Those charged can agree to deportation before a conviction and charges will be dropped. Creates a new low-level felony for someone in the country without legal permission who applies for or receives benefits such as public housing. Creates a new high-level felony law for those who sell fentanyl that leads to an overdose death, with a presumptive sentence of 10 years in prison.