There are 10 propositions on the upcoming election. I know some people are confused by them, and there is a lot of misleading information about them. I am going to try to wrap that all up.
First some structure. Propositions are a 3-digit number, the first digit tells you the type. 1 means a state constitutional amendment. 2 means something that that people collected signatures for and got on the ballot that way. 3 means something that was proposed by the legislature and referred to the ballot. Ones that start with a 4 are city and county ones, which there are none this year. The last two digits just go up with each one, year after year until it hits 99 then resets.
So lets get into them. I will try to explain what each of them does. I am not going to tell you which way to vote, but I do feel that some are obvious.
128. In Arizona if a law was passed from a proposition the legislators cannot change it at all unless it goes to the ballot again. That has made some problems when it was written poorly. This law would allow changes to propositions with invalid provisions. Arizona is one of only 2 states with this restriction.
129. This will limit future proposition that are citizen-initiated to focus on just one subject. Bills in Arizona already have this requirement. This is so you can’t put something that most hate in a bill that most people like, and then only focus on the good part to get the other part passed. Many people are low information voters and without this protection someone unscrupulous can sneak something into a popular bill.
130. Property tax Exemption for Veterans who are disabled or whose spouse has died. This was a law previously but was removed over 30 years ago. This had unanimous support from the legislature. As with any property tax the taxes are a set amount for each year, so if less people pay then everyone else pays more. Under 2% of the population will qualify for this, so you should see your property taxes go up around 2% if this passes.
131. Create a new office of Lieutenant governor. Right now, if the Governor leaves office before the end of their term the Secretary of state becomes governor. This has happened 6 times in our history. The sec of state oversees elections so this could be a problem during election season. 45 other states have this office while the rest do not, Arizona is the largest state without. This is the 3rd time this has been put on the ballot with 1994 and 2010 being the other two times. The governor and Lt governor would run together as a team. Over 70% of the legislators in Arizona voted yes to put this on the ballot.
132. Supermajority required to raise state taxes. This would mean that any bill that raises taxes will need 60% to pass. There has been much argument in the past about bills and if they raise taxes or not. 9 states have this law on their books.
209. Debt forgiveness on health debt. This would make it harder for debt to be collected and easer to be forgiven if that debt is related to healthcare services. It would limit the interest rate to 3% or less per year on such debt. It would eliminate late fees. It would also raise the limits for protections of exempt assets. For example, if currently if you own a car that has more than $6000 equity a judge could force you to sell it to pay the debt, this will increase it to $15,000. On homes that exemption will go from 250k to 400k, and from $6k to $15k for personal property like electronics, guns or jewelry. If this passes, then it is likely people and companies who provide these services will charge more to everyone to offset the ones who do not pay.
211. Campaign Finance Disclosure. This requires that anyone that make an independent expenditure of $50,000 or more on a statewide campaign or $25,000 or more on a local campaign must disclose the names of the money’s original sources. This could cause a chilling effect and limit free speech, it also could be used to harass people who donate, who would have remained anonymous without this. An independent expenditure is money that is spent outside of the campaign, by a group not related to the campaign. Donations to campaigns are already reported, and for much smaller amounts.
308. In state tuition for everyone who went to school in Arizona for two years and graduated from High School in Arizona. Currently if someone is not a US citizen, they pay out of state tuition even if they went to school in Arizona, this would change that. The in-state tuition does not cover the cost of education and is subsidized by those that pay out of state tuition with any deficiency made up by the state. Private colleges don’t offer in-state tuition. Currently in state tuition is about 12k per year while out of state is about 30k per year.
309. This would increase ID verification for people who vote by mail. It would require that a voter put their birthdate and any number from any government issued ID, or the last four digits of their SSN, for their ballot to be counted. It will also make getting an Arizona state ID Card free for anyone who needs an ID. For in person voting only photo ID will be accepted, currently non photo alternative ID is still accepted.
310. Fire district fund. This would add .1% to the state sales tax for 20 years. This money would go to the 141 rural fire departments in Arizona. 1.5 million people in Arizona live in these districts while all 7.2 million and any visitors will pay the tax.