Voters wary of measure that could save $275M

This fall, Arizona voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure that could save taxpayers $275 million by making changes to the pensions of correctional officers and elected officials.

But polling shows likely voters — many of whom are undecided — are wary of the measure, known as Proposition 125.

Prop. 125 would amend the Arizona Constitution to make changes to the benefit increases paid to retirees in two state-run pension funds that are in serious financial trouble.

About 40 percent of likely voters oppose the measure, 28 percent support it and nearly 32 percent are still undecided, a poll from Suffolk University and The Arizona Republic shows.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The initiative’s supporters said the polling suggests that many Arizona voters — distracted by the drama of campaigns for U.S. Senate and governor — simply don’t know about Prop. 125.

The measure could save the state and local governments up to $275 million over the next 19 years, according to an estimate from the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

Backers: Prop. 125 will make system ‘stable’

Will Buividas, vice chairman of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System’s trustee board, said it’s critical that voters support the initiative because it will help slow rising pension costs that drain money from the state, counties and other levels of government.

“This will make it stable,” Buividas, a Phoenix police officer, told The Arizona Republic. “That’s money that could be going to other services.”

Buividas said he’s hopeful that if voters educate themselves about the measure, support for Prop. 125 will turn before voters decide its fate in the Nov. 6 election; early voting starts Wednesday.

There is no organized opposition to Prop. 125, at least yet.

It was referred to the ballot by the Arizona Legislature, with unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol.

Several public-safety unions also have endorsed the plan.

But likely voters were hesitant when read a plain-language description of the measure as part of the Suffolk University/Arizona Republic poll.

The statewide poll of 500 registered voters, reached by mobile phones and landlines, was conducted between Sept. 27 and 30.

Pollsters asked voters whether they support Prop. 125 if knowing a “yes vote will allow the state to adjust certain benefits for corrections officer retirees and elected official retirees in order to provide greater financial stability in the pension system.”

Some corrections officers uneasy about measure

Some corrections officers also are hesitant, though none have mobilized in opposition.

Arizona Corrections Association Executive President Clinton Roberts said the board of his organization hasn’t decided whether to take a position on Prop. 125.

Roberts said he’s uneasy because Prop. 125 would reduce pension benefits for corrections officers he represents. He said that’s “unfair” because corrections workers already are underpaid.

“It’s just blatant disrespect for the job,” Roberts said, calling corrections officers “the redheaded stepchild of law enforcement.”

But, as Buividas points out, the initiative asks voters to make similar changes to the reforms they’ve already made to the pensions of police officers and firefighters.

In 2016, Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 124, which made similar changes to benefit increases received by public-safety workers. Prop. 125 asks voters to make reforms to two other pension funds, which are administered by the same board of trustees as PSPRS:

The Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan or EORP, the pension plan for about 600 active and 1,200 retired elected officials and judges.

The Corrections Officer Retirement Plan or CORP, the pension plan for about 14,000 active and 5,100 retired officers from the corrections field.