Tom Collins/screengrab KAET
By Tom Collins, Executive Director of Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Arizona’s Politics
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published here for discussion purposes only.)
For those of you who don’t know, Clean Elections is Arizona’s bipartisan, voter approved, anti corruption and voter education law.
There is really nothing like it in the country.
We provide voter education, correctives for mis and disinformation, and access to information for voters in each corner of the state. We also provide financing for candidates who chose to set aside large private and pac donations and abide by strict spending rules, breaking the link between dollars and political favors.
So it’s no surprise the new budget bills take aim at clean elections.
*HB2891*
First, Section 15
This section provides that GRRC, The Governor’s Regulatory Review Council, can reach out strike Commission rules on its own recognizance, rather than requiring a petition or any notice to the public.
In other words the Governor’s council could override Commission decisions at will. This is contrary to the Voter Protection Act.