Arizonans are Striking Back with Ballot Referenda

With the Arizona Legislative Session over, citizen activists, stunned by the regressive taxation and voter suppressing measures passed over the last several months, are readying referendum petitions for Arizonans to sign that will appear on the 2022 ballot. This article first appeared on the Blog for Arizona. Organizations like Stand for Children, Arizona Deserves Better, and Invest in Arizona (which includes groups involved in the Invest in Education movement, the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, the Arizona Education Association, the Arizona Interfaith Network, and Save Our Schools Arizona) are working to undo: SB1485: The purge of the Permanent [...]

By David Gordon|2021-07-04T14:05:36-07:00July 4th, 2021|Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Uncategorized|

“Not Again” — Ad Denounces Republican Attempts to Defund Invest in Ed

Starting with the words "Not Again," the pro-public school organization Stand for Children released an ad late last week decrying the Republican attempts to gut Invest in Ed-Proposition 208. The JD Mesnard bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1783, will cut more than $377 million from the proposition, which was just passed 5 months ago. Calling SB 1783 a continuing "illegal scheme to cut education by hundreds of millions more" after years of budget cuts to schools and the voter passage of Proposition 208-Invest in Ed last November, the narrator in the 30-second ad stated this was a "dishonest power grab" that [...]

By David Gordon|2021-04-05T10:23:01-07:00April 5th, 2021|Ballot Referenda and Initiatives|

Recall Rep. Finchem Campaign Reignites

The campaign to oust traitorous state Rep. March Finchem (R-LD11) is officially underway and aims to have 40,000 signatures by July 2. Now is the time for all good volunteers, precinct committee people, and defenders of democracy to click here for the new volunteer signup form. The Recall Finchem campaign is looking for volunteers to get signatures on the petitions from Democrats and independents. There is no need to be a resident to volunteer in Legislative District 11 (which includes large swathes of PinalCounty and northern Pima County), but people must live in the district to sign the petition. [...]

By Larry Bodine|2021-03-14T18:07:43-07:00March 9th, 2021|Ballot Referenda and Initiatives|

8 Reasons to Pay Attention to State Politics

Melinda Merkel Iyer created the AZ Legislature Weekly Update. State laws directly affect our daily lives. From firearm regulations to DUI, from tax code to community property, the vast majority of laws that affect our daily lives are not federal, but state laws. The feds may get more media attention, but our state lawmakers have the money and influence to decide our state’s priorities — and they are directly responsible for serving us. Our state leads the way when the feds don’t. For four years, with Trump and DeVos in Washington, federal education reform was stalled — but [...]

By Melinda Iyer|2021-02-09T13:50:10-07:00February 9th, 2021|Arizona, Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Elections|

House Votes to Legalize Marijuana as Racial Justice Mandate

This article first appeared on the Blog for Arizona. The House of Representatives voted by a bipartisan majority of 228-164 to pass the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, ending the Federal ban on cannabis. The MORE Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and expunge nonviolent pot-related offenses. The New York Times reports the law, “would require Federal courts to release those serving sentences for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses, and set up grant programs focused on providing job training, legal aid, and substance use treatment, as well as grants for small business in the marijuana [...]

By Lynn Shapiro|2020-12-05T08:52:50-07:00December 5th, 2020|Ballot Referenda and Initiatives|

How to Vote for the Democratic Blue Ticket

President and VP: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris US Senate: Mark Kelly US House of Representatives: Ann Kirkpatrick (CD2) and Raul Grijalva (CD3) Propositions: Vote YES on all: Prop 208 Invest in Education Act, which restores hundreds of millions of dollars annually to K-12 education. Pima County Democratic Party supports Proposition 208. VOTE YES. For more information click here: https://investined.com/ Prop 207: An initiative relating to the Responsible Adult Use, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana. Tax revenues would go primarily to community colleges and public safety. VOTE YES. For more information click here: SEE: Chad Campbell on Vote “YES” on Prop. 207 to Legalize [...]

By Larry Bodine|2020-11-06T10:22:12-07:00November 3rd, 2020|Arizona, Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Elections|

WATCH: Progressive Pam Powers Hannley Hits the Hot Issues

Pamela Powers Hannley, State Rep. for LD9, presented a comprehensive, bright progressive future for Arizona at the Democrats of Greater Tucson meeting on Aug. 24, 2020. Powers Hannley was elected to the Arizona House to serve Legislative District 9 in 2016, and she is running for her third term. Among many topics, Rep. Hannley discussed: Economic and public health challenges facing the Legislature in January 2021; Envisioning a more just post-COVID19 world; and Why Arizona and the US need a Blue Wave in November 2020 to have any chance of building a more just world. As a member [...]

By Larry Bodine|2020-08-25T15:41:23-07:00August 25th, 2020|Arizona, Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Elections, Healthcare, State Representative, Tucson|

AZ Democratic Party Endorses “Invest In Education” Ballot Initiative

This weekend, the Arizona Democratic Party endorsed Invest in Education, a ballot initiative that will restore hundreds of millions in K-12 public education funding annually. Invest in Education will fill over 1,800 teacher vacancies; hire and increase the pay of teachers, aides, counselors; and increase career and technical education funding. You can read the full initiative text here. The first step to passing Invest in Education is qualifying for the ballot in November. We only have 28 days until the petition filing deadline, and we need your help. Safely sign the Invest in Education petition at a petition station near [...]

By Michael Bryan|2020-06-06T17:54:07-07:00June 6th, 2020|Arizona Democratic Party, Arizona Education Association, Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Community Organizing, Education, Endorsements, RedForEd|

“Second Chances Act” Ballot Initiative Needs Your Support!

As you may have heard, there is a ballot initiative that will put sentencing reform before the voters of Arizona. The Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety Act initiative combines elements of several of the sentencing reform bills that were introduced – and supported by AFSC-Arizona – in the last couple of years, but were blocked from receiving hearings by the opposition or vetoed by the Governor. https://secondchancesaz.com/ The #SecondChancesActAZ will: Expand earned release credits from 1 day for every 6 served (roughly 15 percent of one’s sentence) to 1 day for each day served (50 percent) for people convicted of “non-dangerous” offenses; Restore judicial discretion [...]

By Michael Bryan|2020-06-06T17:27:41-07:00June 6th, 2020|Ballot Referenda and Initiatives, Community Organizing, Criminal Justice|