(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Ann Siner of My Sister’s Closet and Judge John Buttrick in their litigation efforts against Prop. 208.)
By Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
Victories for constitutionally limited government are rare these days. All the more reason to cheer a ruling last week by the Arizona Supreme Court that effectively deep-sixed a ballot initiative that overrode a spending cap in Arizona’s constitution (Fann v. State of Arizona).
Put forward by a coalition led by teachers unions, Prop 208 was designed to evade the state constitution’s limits in order to tax and spend millions of dollars for new school spending. Passed narrowly in 2020, the measure imposed a 3.5% tax surcharge on Arizonans who made more than $250,000 filing singly or $500,000 for married couples.
The estimate was that this tax increase would generate $827 million in revenue, which would then go directly to the schools. To get around the constitutional limit on spending, the measure called these funds “grants” instead of “spending.”
