While legislators contemplate cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from crucial state services, a decade-old law could force them to spend millions more on projects that many think are wasteful and outdated.
That is why some state politicians are looking to reform the Voter Protection Act. Some legislators say it hampers their ability to cut wasteful spending, forcing them to cut from crucial areas such as education.
The act was passed to keep state legislators from amending initiatives, the propositions Arizonans see on the ballot every election cycle, after they have been passed. Changes can be made to initiatives only after the Legislature has passed them by a three-fourths supermajority, which opponents say is next to impossible, and only if the measure “furthers the purpose” of the original initiative.
Opponents of the act, who include Gov. Jan Brewer, said it ties the hands of legislators during tough economic times.
In her address to both houses of the Legislature in March, Brewer criticized one voter-protected initiative in particular, which she said requires the state to allocate $20 million to fight urban sprawl this year. This forces lawmakers to cut more funding from crucial core services, such as K-12 education, Brewer said.
“Urban sprawl is not an issue this year,” said Paul Senseman, a spokesman for the governor’s office. “We shouldn’t have to cut that [$20 million] from disabilities services because of voter mandates.”
Senseman said the governor’s office has not yet decided how to amend the act. He said the governor’s staff is looking into several options, including one that would suspend the act when the state is faced with large deficits.
“We could decide to allow only marginal changes during economic crises, or we could do a complete rewrite,” Senseman said. “All the options are on the table.”
Some legislators agree with Brewer’s assertion that the act needs to be reformed. In his meeting with the College Republicans on Friday, Rep. Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, called for cutbacks on voter-protected funding for the state’s Medicaid system, mandated by Proposition 204. Voter protection of excessive funding is only leading to abuse of the system, he said.
“[Current Medicaid spending] is unsustainable in the long run,” Adams said.
Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, said the proposed changes are part of an ongoing power grab by legislators and the state government.
Brown criticized Brewer’s suggestion of allowing temporary suspension of the act during difficult economic years as the latest in a series of these power grabs.
“If they create a law that allows the Legislature to raid funds in case of an emergency, they’ll create an emergency every year,” Brown said.
Brown said the initiatives have helped fund programs such as early-childhood education that voters want, and legislators, for ideological reasons, will not support. Instead, they look to cut government spending as much as possible, Brown said.
“[Legislators] have the wherewithal to balance the budget,” Brown said. “They don’t need to raid voter-protected funds.”
Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, D-Tempe, said amending or even suspending the act is unnecessary when there are other options on the table for closing the deficit. The effort to amend the act is simply the result of political elitism, she said — legislators simply do not trust ordinary citizens to make wise choices.
“I think legislators are just politely telling voters that they didn’t know what they were talking about [when they passed an initiative],” Cahill said.
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
