By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Sun
Calling the measure unconstitutionally punitive, attorneys for Tucson on Monday asked a judge to void the law that allows Attorney General Mark Brnovich to order the community’s revenue sharing withheld if it does not bend to the state’s will.
Lead attorney Rick Rollman said the legislation, approved earlier this year, amounts to illegal coercion of local officials to abandon measures they adopted in what they believe is the best interests of their residents.
More to the point, Rollman said that violates provisions in the Arizona Constitution, which gives charter cities like Tucson and 17 other communities the right to set their own policies and establish their own laws on matters of strictly local concern.
