This is a very short diary. I spent part of the morning looking through the Propositions that will be on November's ballot in Arizona. The first thing that struck me is that there are only three of them, plus a bond question in Pima County to raise money to modernize the Animal Control facility in Tucson. This is highly unusual.
From ballotpedia:
Historical facts
This is the first year since 1978 that no initiated measures will appear on the statewide ballot in Arizona.
Since 1996, an average of 12 measures have appeared annually on the ballot in Arizona. Therefore, 2014 is a below-average year for ballot measures.
The number of measures on a statewide ballot since 1996 has ranged from one to 19.
Since 1996, 58 of 104, or 56 percent, of Arizona ballot measures have been approved by voters.
Conversely, 46 of 104, or 44 percent, of measures have been defeated.
The first is a nullification amendment to the state constitution, giving the state the right not to fund or enforce federal laws it considers unconstitutional. Among the pages of supporters of this measure is our very own Russell Pearce, who recently made the news again for supporting the sterilization of poor women and government inspection of every facet of their lives. So much for libertarianism. He's not for small government or constitutional protection for poor women, only for businesses. (Probably for fetuses too, though he hasn't said so out loud.)
There really are pages of comments supporting this - the nullification folks like writing letters. There is one page of three or four comments opposing it, focusing on issues like environmental protection and public land use.
There is nothing to support in this amendment. Nothing.
Another measure referred by the legislature is a law that would make access to experimental treatments more easily available to terminally ill patients. There are no comments opposing this measure, and the "for" comments include some personal stories.
The third measure, referred by the Commission in charge of such things, proposes a raise in legislators' salaries from $25,000 to $34,000. I imagine members of the legislature and their families and close friends will vote for this. There are pages of comments opposing this raise. For 100 days of work a year? No thanks.
As for the Pima County bond issue, the Silverbell facility is sadly outdated and inadequate and we need to make it larger and bring it up to date.