Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/801759
SPRING 2017 | ADVOCATE 13 at the capitol Bills Threatening Your Constitutional Rights Arizona citizens are facing a coordinated attack on their constitutional rights from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Legislature via 6 different bills listed below. These bills would create extreme burdens to getting measures on the ballot, and take away voters' power by allowing the legislature to change or repeal initiatives after voters approved them. Voters from all sides of the political spectrum have used the initiative process since Arizona became a state in 1912 to advance policy when the legislature has failed to take responsibility for issues important to voters. The legislature is attempting to manipulate the rules to take ballot measures away, after a broad coalition of voters used it successfully to pass legislation they and special interest funders don't like, such as Prop. 206 and Prop. 301. The Arizona Chamber of Commerce, is pushing these bills in retaliation against voters who overwhelmingly passed Prop 206, the minimum wage and paid sick measure. Prop 206 won in 29 out of 30 legislative districts, and in most cases got more votes than the winning legislators, and yet those legislators are scheming to be able to dismantle what their constituents clearly supported. • HCR2002–A referendum that would repeal Prop 105, the Voter Protection Act. Prop 105 protects initiatives or referen- dums passed by voters from being repealed or defunded by legislators. This repeal would allow legislators to change or even repeal ballot measures after voters have approved them. • HCR2007–A referendum that would exempt referendums from Prop 105, the Voter Protection Act, which protects voter initiatives from being repealed or defunded by legislators, so any bill referred to the ballot for a vote by the legislature, and then approved by voters, could be changed at will by the legislature. • HB2404–Contains several provisions that are clearly targeted at increasing the difficulty and expense of placing an initiative on the ballot, making it impossible for citizens to have their voice heard. This places on undue burden on our constitu- tional right to direct democracy and silences voters. • HB2255–Would prevent ballot measure committees from accepting funding from out-of-state residents or committees, while allowing candidates and the independent campaigns that support them to accept all the out-of-state, special-inter- est funding they want. This is unconstitutional under Citizens United and will waste taxpayer dollars in court if passed. • SCR1013–Adds more complicated rules to the signature gathering process, to make it so expensive and complicated to get on the ballot that citizens are unable to do so. Like HB2404, this places undue burdens on our constitutional right to direct democracy and silences voters. • HB2320–Would add a warning to the ballot that the legisla- ture cannot change any ballot measures approved by voters. This intends to discourage voters from passing initiatives. It would also cost taxpayers money, because they would have to pay for longer ballots and election materials because there is not currently space for this long warning. Bills Attacking Teachers The Arizona Chamber is also launching an attack on teachers in Arizona by pushing legislation that would lower professional teaching standards: • SB1042 expands certification reciprocity language and currently does not provide a definition for teacher seeking reciprocity. The bill would not require a person to take the professional knowledge test, the subject knowledge test, or the entire proficiency examination if the person has passed corresponding portions of an examination adopted by a state agency in another state that is similar to the examina- tion adopted by the Arizona State Board of Education and any portion of the proficiency examination if the person has been a full-time teacher in any state for at least two years in the same area of certification in which the person is apply- ing. This bill also eliminates a requirement for an applicant's certification from another state to include passing that state's subject knowledge and professional exams. • SB1039 undermines the teaching profession and teachers who worked hard to reach the high expectations set by the Arizona State Board of Education. It would deprofessional- ize teachers in our state by creating different standards for the same certificate and will eliminate the ability for Arizona teachers to receive reciprocity in other states as our certifica- tion process will no longer be comparable. In an article for the Arizona Capitol Times, Lisa Graham Keegan, director of the Chamber's education group A for Arizona, referred to Arizona's teacher certification process as, "just some silly regulatory barrier that's got to come down, or we're not going to be able to get the people that we know we could get quickly enough, because they've got a lot of options at this point." The governor's office has stated he believes this legislation will help alleviate the state's teacher shortage crisis. AEA President Joe Thomas disagreed, "To attract and retain teachers, we need better pay, we need better working conditions, and that's what Arizona has got to focus on, not lowering certification so you can bring anybody into the classroom. You show me the parent that thinks that's a good idea, and I'll be amazed." Both bills would lower the standards in the teaching profession and tell over 50,000 teachers in Arizona that their work is not worthy of certification aligned to professional, statewide standards. At a time when teachers already feel disrespected due to a perceived lack of support or education investments from the state, this bill sends a disturbing message to teachers, students, and parents about the value of investing in qualified teachers. SB1039 is still waiting for a floor vote in the Senate, while SB1042 has already made it through the Senate and is working its way through the House. n