Proposition 123 (2016)

Former Chief Justice Stanley Feldman: NO on Prop. 123

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Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Stanley Feldman has penned an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star urging voters to vote no on Prop. 123. Stanley Feldman: Vote NO on Prop. 123:

StanleyFeldmanProposition 123 may sound like a good deal, but it’s not. In fact, almost all of Proposition 123’s supporters concede it’s a bad deal, and here are some reasons why:

1. Prop. 123 only pays about 70 percent of the amount the courts have already ruled is due the schools under Prop. 301, which the voters passed in 2000.

2. Of the future funding contemplated by Proposition 123, about two-thirds will come from the Arizona State Land Trust Fund that Congress established when Arizona became a state. Approximately 2½ percent of the annual earnings from trust land sales or rentals is paid to schools each year.

But Prop. 123 increases that to over 6 percent per year, thus depleting trust principal and depriving future generations of the security provided by the trust. It is truly a case of robbing Peter to pay Peter — using the schools’ money to pay the debt owed the schools.

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The evidence is in: no reason to trust our Tea-Publican legislature and governor to support public education

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The Arizona Daily Sun recently editorialized, Our View: Many reasons to question good faith of Prop. 123:

HOLD THOSE BALLOTS

1-2-3That last option is still being played out at the State Capitol, and while the governor and legislative leaders might be hoping citizens vote early before playing their cards on tax cuts, the state budget can’t be put off that long, and we expect to have an answer to their tax and spending priorities within the week. Recent tax cuts will undermine state revenues by a net $350 million by 2019, according to analysts, and if new tax cuts are not more strategically crafted to build productivity and increase hiring, then education spending, along with other parts of the budget, is bound to suffer.

So that is why we are holding off sending in our ballot on Prop. 123 – the election is not until May 17. As noted in the beginning, we have good reason to question whether the Prop. 123 settlement was negotiated in good faith when it comes to truly supporting public education. The pending tax cuts and final budget will provide key evidence to either confirm or deny that skepticism. Hang onto your ballot – and pay close attention to the news coming out of the Capitol in the next few weeks.

Now that we have seen the GOP budget, the lack of goof faith has now been confirmed. Arizonans are being played by the anti-public education GOP. Public schools portion stalls state budget:

[T]he biggest sticking point appears to be a policy adopted last year of changing how aid to schools is calculated. That shift, set to take effect this coming school year, cuts school funding about $31 million.

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More opinions on Prop. 123

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The editors of our sad small town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star (“all the news that Jim Click decides is fit to print“) gave a “qualified” editorial endorsement to Prop. 123 on Sunday. Their cynical reasoning is summarized in this excerpt. Our view: a qualified ‘yes’ on Prop. 123:

AbandonHope

Opponents of Prop. 123 argue that this lawsuit is the only leverage public education supporters have, and that to give that up is folly. They might be true, but it’s a naive position. These elected officials have had years to do the right thing and have refused.

1-2-3Opponents also say lawmakers should use the budget surplus to pay schools what they’re owed, and to invest more in education. They’re correct — lawmakers should use the surplus to pay that debt, but they’re not going to.

This will not change until voters elect different, and better, legislators. The way “safe” districts are drawn, it is fantasy to imagine that will happen soon.

In other words, the editors have lost all hope in our democracy, and in particular, you the voters.

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GOP culture of corruption: cool ‘Kochtopus’ cash to ‘economic freedom schools’

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Back in 2011, it was reported that the Koch Brothers Are Fueling Far Right Academic Centers At Universities Across The Country:

Budget constraints and other problems at universities have allowed a small set of oligarchs to use school donations to interfere with academic integrity on campuses. A group of hedge fund managers, working through the Manhattan Institute’s Veritas Fund, have created entire departments dedicated to advancing failed supply side ideas and climate skepticism. John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T Bank, a bailout recipient, has used his corporation’s money to force college campuses to adopt Ayn Rand readings into their programs.

I posted about the “Kochtopus” infiltrating research universities with their money to fund institutes and professors of propaganda, like Steven Slivinski at ASU, last year. Tempe Normal, er, Arizona State University is now “Koch Brothers U.” “Kochtopus” cash and Koch Brothers U. (ASU).

KOchtopus

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports State universities slated to get $5M for little-known ‘freedom schools’:

The state university system is still reeling from last year’s $99 million cut, and higher education advocates for the three state universities are pleading with lawmakers to restore some of their funding now that the state’s budget outlook is improving.

Universities are asking for an additional $24 million in funding in fiscal year 2017, bringing the total funding down to $75 million less than universities had two years ago.

According to draft budget spreadsheets circulating around the Capitol as the budget continues to be negotiated, that doesn’t appear likely. One of the few reprieves the universities are getting is a $5 million addition specifically earmarked for “economic freedom schools.”

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(Update) Court packing scheme in Arizona

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I posted about this earlier this month. The GOP war on the independence of the judiciary – court packing scheme in Arizona.

Screenshot from 2016-04-23 05:54:20

Tim Steller of the Arizona Daily Star writes Governor could ‘pack’ Supreme Court under bill:

Of course nothing is sacred in politics.

Why should the state’s highest court be any different?

And yet, there’s something unseemly about the deal moving through the Legislature that would add two seats to the state’s Supreme Court.

Three unseemly things, actually.

The bill would expand the court from five to seven justices even though no one on the court or recently retired from it is saying that’s necessary.

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