Ariz. Senate panel OKs bill targeting voter initiatives

PHOENIX — Arguing the process is considered by some to be “rife with fraud,” Republican lawmakers advanced legislation imposing a new hurdle in the ability of citizen groups to propose their own laws.

HB 2404, approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote, would make it illegal to pay initiative petition circulators based on the number of signatures they gather. Rep. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, who is carrying the bill for business interests, told committee members that Arizonans have “lost confidence” in the process.

“I’m wondering where you got that belief from and if you have some sort of way to back that up,” responded Sen. Martin Quezada, DGlendale. Leach said he got it from a political newsletter.

What Leach has advanced under his name is the top priority of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It has made “reform” of the initiative process its top legislative priority in the wake of voter approval of increasing the minimum wage.

The organization even brought out attorney Brett Johnson to argue to lawmakers why the measure makes sense.

But Johnson, under questioning from Quezada, conceded he had no actual evidence of fraud in any Arizona initiative. Instead he cited some studies from other states.

Anyway, Johnson argued, this really isn’t about fraud despite the comments by Leach. Instead, he said, it’s about “process.”

“That is the state’s public policy and purpose to ensure the orderly processing of signatures,” he said.

Interests which have had relative success getting what they want from the Republican-controlled legislature have lined up behind the legislation. That includes all major utilities, the Center for Arizona Policy, the hospital association and a group that lobbies on behalf of building owners and managers.

Supporters of the new restriction also include groups that have been the target of successful initiative efforts, ranging from the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association which opposed the 1994 voter-approved ban on leghold traps, to the Arizona Restaurant Association which led the unsuccessful fight to quash the just-approved increase in the state minimum wage.