Issues

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 133, a 2024 Arizona ballot measure proposing partisan primaries for partisan offices. This is a proposed constitutional amendment put forth by the legislature and would require partisan primaries elections for partisan offices. Prop 133 is a direct rebuttal response to Prop 140, the Make Elections Fair Act.  

Nearly 34% of registered voters in Arizona are registered as Independent and can select a partisan ballot in current Arizona primary elections.

❌ Arguments against Prop 133: This measure is designed to derail the Make Elections Fair Act (Prop 140). By constitutionalizing partisan primaries, this measure makes it harder for Arizonans to pass responsive election reforms.

✅ Arguments for Prop 133: This measure will preserve our current primary system for partisan offices. The proposal supports the right of people to associate with the party of their choice.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 134, a measure that would change the signature requirements for voter-proposed initiatives, making it more difficult to get them on the ballot.  Proposition 134 would require an equal percentage of signatures from all 30 districts. 62% of Arizonans live in Maricopa County with another 15% in Pima County.

❌ Arguments against Prop 134: This measure would dramatically change the way signatures are gathered for citizen-led initiatives and make it more difficult to get them on the ballot.

✅ Arguments for Prop 134: Currently there is no requirement for geographic distribution of support for initiative signature gathering. This concentrates signature gathering in dense urban areas. A broader requirement will mean initiatives have to show broad support.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 135, a 2024 Arizona ballot measure about declaring emergencies. Prop 135 would limit the Governor’s power over state-of-emergency declarations and give more related power to the legislature. Additionally, a state of emergency would expire after 30 days unless extended by lawmakers. Exceptions include war-related emergencies and fire and flood emergencies. 

❌ Arguments against Prop 135: This proposal will add red tape and unnecessary legislative meddling. The legislature already has passed a law giving them the ability to review public health emergencies after 120 days. A 30 day limit will hamper ongoing actions to address an emergency.

✅ Arguments for Prop 135: State governors have too much unchecked power in the face of an emergency. This proposal to limit declarations to 30 days absent legislative approval ensures proper oversight.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 136, a measure focused on challenging the constitutionality of voter-proposed initiatives. Current Arizona law mandates the constitutionality of initiatives cannot be challenged until they go into law, similar to how new legislation is treated. Prop 136 would make it possible for people to challenge the constitutionality of a proposed initiative during the same period of time that they are challenging the procedural aspect.

❌ Arguments against Prop 136: This proposal interferes with the voters rights to propose and vote on initiatives. It also interferes with petitioners ability to successfully present measures because of the costly legal battles that would ensue.

✅ Arguments for Prop 136: Precedent in Arizona prevents courts from evaluating the constitutionality of a measure before it’s adopted. Prop 136 changes that. It wastes time and resources to have a measure passed at the ballot only to later be declared unconstitutional.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 137, a 2024 Arizona ballot measure that would end retention elections for state Supreme Court justices. Currently, voters have the power to remove judges from the bench at the end of their term. If Prop 137 is passed, a judicial review commission would determine which judges behaved poorly enough to merit voters deciding their fates. 

❌ Arguments against Prop 137: Our current judicial retention system was passed by the voters and has served Arizona well for decades. Voters decide if judges are enforcing the law and doing their jobs properly. The overwhelming majority of judges have been retained, only a few who were clearly not up to the job have been removed by the voters. This misguided proposition effectively eliminates term limits for judges in all but the most extreme cases. Another troubling element of Prop 137 is its retroactivity. If passed, it could overturn voter decisions about judges in this election cycle. Should voters this year exercise their right not to retain a judge, that decision would be nullified.

✅ Arguments for Prop 137: This measure protects judges from political retribution for their decisions. The ballot is very long because of these retention elections and few voters know who they are voting on. This ballot initiative ensures that only judges with real issues are put before voters.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 138, a 2024 Arizona ballot initiative about how tipped workers are paid across the state. Prop 138 would allow tipped workers in Arizona to be paid 25% less than the minimum wage if income from tips passes a certain threshold.

Currently, tipped workers are paid $3 less than minimum wage workers. Prop 138 would lower tipped workers wages slightly more if the employer can establish that the employee ultimately received the minimum wage plus $2 for every hour worked.

❌ Arguments against Prop 138: The Tipped Workers Protection Act (TWPA) preserves the tip credit and increases the base pay an additional $2 per hour for tipped employees, helping keep costs under control while increasing the guaranteed pay for frontline workers. Without the tip credit, restaurants would be forced to raise prices or add service charges, which would fuel inflation and discourage dining out.

✅ Arguments for Prop 138:  Prop 138 lowers the amount of money that employers of tipped workers must pay. Instead of a flat $3 credit, this allows employers to pay 25% less, leaving consumers to fill in the gap.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 139, the Arizona Abortion Access Act. Proposition 139 is a constitutional amendment that will make the right to abortion in Arizona constitutional. This measure sets forth related standards, including that the legislature cannot be interfering with decisions a pregnant person is making about their bodies.

✅ Arguments for Prop 139:  Voters need to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution to ensure that pregnant people have access to abortion care and bodily autonomy. 

❌ Arguments against Prop 139: The proposed law is too broad and subjective and will result in loosening or ending laws related to parental consent.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Local First AZ CEO & Founder, Kimber Lanning and CEO of Goodmans, Adam Goodman. The panel goes into detail on proposition 140, one of the 2024 Arizona ballot initiatives. Prop 140 is also known as “Make Elections Fair Arizona,” including arguments for and against the ballot measure.

Proposition 140 would amend the Arizona Constitution to open primaries to all voters, regardless of party affiliation. All candidates would appear on the same ballot, and that ballot would be sent to all registered voters.  

✅ Arguments for Prop 140: The number of independent voters is only growing in Arizona, with more and more people, including younger generations, trending to register as independent. Prop 140 will allow independent voters to more easily participate in Arizona primary elections and assist Arizonans in passing responsive election reforms.

❌ Arguments against Prop 140: Our current primary system for partisan offices should be preserved. Open primaries can make ballots longer and more complex. The existing primary system ensures equal and fair representation of each registered party so their voters have a voice in the General Election.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins. Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 311, a ballot measure that would introduce a $250,000 death benefit for families of first responders. 

Proposition 311 was put on the ballot by the legislature and it will create a new death benefit that will go to the spouse or child of a first responder killed in the line of duty. This measure will be funded through a new $20 fee billed to people who receive a criminal conviction. Prop 311 also increases the penalty for aggravated assault against a first responder. Additionally, if the money raised by these new fees is above $2M, the legislature can elect to divert some of those funds to police training or provide additional benefits to first responders.

✅ Arguments for Prop 311: First responders and police face increased physical attacks and local communities are facing staffing shortages because it, which in turn, makes their job more difficult. This law signals to first responders that voters support them. 

❌ Arguments against Prop 311: If there is a death benefit, the legislature should commit state tax dollars rather than create a new fee. The new fee does not go entirely to supporting first responders and allows too much discretion to the legislature to use excess fees.

In this episode of the Better Together Arizona podcast, ONE Community President & Co-Founder Angela Hughey is joined by Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Tom Collins.

Angela and Tom discuss AZ Prop 312, a 2024 Arizona ballot measure addressing property tax refunds for public nuisance. This measure attempts to address the rise in homelessness in a unique way.  Prop 312 proposes a new opportunity to apply for a tax refund for property owners who can prove continued expenses due to a public nuisance disturbance on their property.

❌ Arguments against Prop 312: This measure creates an incentive for local governments to enforce laws that predominantly impact people who are experiencing homelessness while threatening the ability of those governments to pay for needed services.

✅ Arguments for Prop 312: This measure creates a financial incentive for local government to enforce the anti-nuisance laws on the books. Failing to enforce these laws leads to public safety issues and increases costs to property owners who must pay for security and increased upkeep in some cases.