On October 26, an Arizona Superior Court ruled that a ballot measure that would de-fund public funding should not appear on the ballot next year. The legislature had placed it on the ballot. It was removed from the ballot because Arizona, like almost all states, says that ballot measures cannot encompass more than a single subject. The ballot measure would have de-funded public funding for Arizona state office, and also done the same to the public funding for the City of Tucson. Although the decision says the idea of de-funding public funding for both the state and Tucson is a single subject, the flaw in the measure is that it requires Tucson to turn over all the money in its public funding account to the state treasury, and the state’s taking the city’s money is a separate subject. Here is the 4-page decision.

Legislative leaders suggested they may not appeal, and instead would pass the measure all over again early in 2012, without the flaw. See this story. The case is Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation v Bennett, Maricopa County cv 2011-9646.