Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit strongly opposes Governor Doug Ducey’s plan to settle the Prop. 301 school funding inflation adjustment case, Cave Creek Unified School Dist. et al v. Ducey, by raiding the state trust lands fund for K-12 education for ten years, if approved by voters at the May 2016 Special Election (Prop. 123).
DeWit insists that this change to the state trust lands fund formula for distribution requires congressional approval because it modifies the Arizona Statehood and Enabling Act. Governor Ducey, relying on the opinion of the Republican Party’s attorney, Mike Liburdi, says that Congress does not have to approve Prop. 123.
Here is what is annoying the hell out of me. The lazy media villagers in this state keep reporting this pissing match between the Governor and the State Treasurer, but despite the fact that they both claim to have a legal opinion supporting their position, no news outlet, to my knowledge, has actually published or provided a link to the legal opinion on which each man is relying (perhaps they have not released these legal opinions to the media, which begs the question, why is the media not demanding that these legal opinions be produced to the media?)
The lazy media villagers also keep referencing comments made by the Governor’s office and GOP attorney Mike Liburdi about the 1999 amendments to the Arizona Statehood and Enabling Act, but to my knowledge, they never actually publish or provide a link to the 1999 amendments to better inform the public.
The reporting on this issue is occurring in a vacuum, and the public is being poorly served and ill-informed by the media.
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