The 2018 midterm election is coming! You’ve probably already decided which candidates you support – but what about the propositions? There’s a lot of conflicting information out there. CLICK HERE to get a thorough breakdown for the 2018 ballot measures, but right up front, here are the Weekly’s recommendations:
Proposition 125 (Public Retirement System Reform): NO
Proposition 126 (Protect Arizona Taxpayers Act): NO
Proposition 127 (Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona): YES
Proposition 305 (Empowerment Scholarship Account Expansion): NO
Proposition 306 (Amending the Clean Elections Commission): NO
And remember, October 9 is the last day to register to vote in this election. First, EVERYONE — yes, you, even if nothing’s changed for you in years — everyone should check their registration via the Secretary of State’s office (here). Why? If there’s a problem with your registration at the polls, it will be too late to fix it then. So dig out your driver license now and check. If you’re not registered, don’t put it off. Get it done – then pester friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, etc., to do the same.
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Also, a YES on Prop 419 (addressing dark money) for those in the City of Phoenix.
On the pension issue. First, one of the worst attacks on pensions everywhere is the call of being underfunded, and how government has a massive liability hole. The accounting standard is a lie. It wants to assume everyone retires at the same time and there is no money for that. That scenario will never happen. If the same accounting standard applied to life insurance companies and banks, assuming everyone died or withdrew at the same time, all those companies would be bankrupt. Pensions have a much too strict accounting standard, much higher than banksw and life insurance. The accounting standard is an obscure way to attack pensions. (See the post office issue) However the incremental attacks on the teachers, cities, state and county pensions is real. Way too many lazy media, especially one in Phoenix, love to mash all three state pension systems together. The teachers system is generally in good shape, even with the flawed accounting standard. There should never had been a elected officials retirement system. Frankly, it was a way for the then pension board to buy off politicians. Most Arizonans would say if you wanted a retirement, don’t get elected, get a real job. It’s not a career. Ironically we have a number of state legislators with multiple public pensions. Public safety increased benefits after the 9-11, with no increase in funding. So there is a good rationale for voting no on the pension issue, but it doesn’t fix the immediate issue.
Will you be following up with justification for each prop vote? I know why I am voting this way, but talking points are helpful:) First blog I’ve seen, so possible I missed it…