By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Sun
The state’s high court Wednesday paved the way for more wide-ranging citizen initiatives — assuming the proponents can get their issues on the ballot.
Without dissent, the justices ruled that state laws that limit legislation to a single subject do not apply when the proposal comes from voters. That means initiative backers are free to propose new statutes with a full garden of ideas in a single measure, even if they are unrelated.
The justices also said constitutional requirements for ballot measures to provide a funding source like a new tax do not apply when nothing in the proposal actually mandates new expenditures. They said the fact there might be indirect financial implications — even those lawmakers contend are necessary — is not enough.
