On March 1, the Arizona Senate passed SCR 1043, which asks the voters in November 2010 if they wish to divert all money now used for public funding of campaigns into public education instead. Now the bill goes to the House. Thanks to Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law blog for this news.
So does the bill itself take public financing away, or does it just put the funding up for a referendum?
Clean Elections was passed by initiative. According to Arizona law, the legislature can’t undo something passed by the people directly, so they have to put it on the ballot.
This is quite insidious. The amount of money in the Clean Elections fund would not substantially save Arizona’s educational system. That’s only in there to make it more palatable to the Arizona voters who, in poll after poll, have said they support the public financing of their elections.
Thank you. (I just tried to say that, and it didn’t post. If this comes out as a double post, Richard, please strike one of them.)