A judge on Friday refused a bid by Arizona Republican legislative leaders to block an anti-dark money law that voters passed in 2022, concluding that their claims that the new state law is unconstitutional don't pass muster.
A judge on Friday refused a bid by Arizona Republican legislative leaders to block an anti-dark money law that voters passed in 2022, concluding that their claims that the new state law is unconstitutional don't pass muster.
Lol. They tried to claim it was unconstitutional because it bypasses legislative authority. Saying there are no guardrails.
The AZ Constitution explicitly gives citizens the power to directly propose and vote on laws. What they’re trying to do is explicitly WHY Arizona citizens have this ability. And laws passed this way cannot simply be overwritten at the legislature’s whim. The law effectively ensures that ultimately, power resides with the citizens.
The AZ Constitution effectively grants citizens a direct check and balance over the legislative not doing their job on a large scale. Not to mention the ability to recall individual elected officials, which some other states seem to have not thought was necessary for whatever reason.
In fact, in this particular case, the law as passed by the citizens even gives the legislature the ability to amend it, something most propositions do not since they almost always address issues the legislature is actively ignoring. The legislature can change the law if they want, but that’s not what they want. They want it thrown out. By the courts so they don’t have to be on record trying to mess with a citizen passed law about dark money.