If you have any difficulty voting please contact the Arizona Advocacy Network at 602-297-2500.  We can help you with:

• Finding your correct polling place (your vote will not count if you vote at the wrong precinct!)
• Navigating the ID requirements (pollworkers sometimes mistakenly turn you away even if you have adequate ID.)
• Intimidation or other problems at the polls that are causing people to be unable to vote.

Please call us at 602-297-2500 or email us at Linda@azadvocacy.org.

pdf-of-azans-guide-to-the-ballot-measures

(Click on the link above to get to the guide.)

In 2008 Arizonans will have the opportunity to decide eight statewide ballot measures, many of which will have long-term consequences for the state. Making sense of ballot measures can be challenging. The brief descriptions printed on the ballots are not always clear, and sometimes they are deliberately misleading, making it difficult for voters to determine whether they support or oppose a particular measure. With eight measures on the 2008 ballot, those entering the voting booth without having educated themselves on each measure will face a daunting task.

The Arizona Advocacy Network is pleased to present our bi-annual guide to Arizona’s ballot measures as a tool voters can use to make informed decisions about how to vote on each measure. This guide presents both supporting and opposing arguments so that you, the voter, can decide each issue. For each measure we have summarized:

· Description of the measure

· Background of the measure

· Impact of the measure

· Arguments in favor of and against the measure

· Partial list of supporters and opponents of the measure

· List of major contributors that gave money to support or oppose the measure

· Websites of interest

Voters interested in reading the full text of each measure will find links to each on the Secretary of State’s website at:

www.azsos.gov/election/2008/General/ballotmeasures.htm

Between now and November 4^th, AzAN is presenting a series of educational forums to discuss the ballot measures. If you would like us to make a presentation to your group, please contact us at 602-297-2500 or Linda@azadvocacy.org.

RESPONSES TO ARIZONA REPUBLIC EDITORIAL

Your editorial writers should have asked Prop 201’s supporters for information before attacking it – they might have learned a few things. These writers say, “The proposal is cumbersome and complicated” – but most of its language is simply reprinting the existing law in Arizona, as the authors were required by law to do.  The problem is that currently the builders’ lobby has written a bunch of “cumbersome and complicated” obstacles to homeowners ever obtaining any relief. All Prop 201 does is try to reform some of the mess created by the builders’ lobbyists.  They were the ones who demanded that prior to filing any suit consumers provide detailed notice and responses to offers of repair or compensation – what Prop 201 does is cut back on that “red tape” in existing law, not increase it.

Your editorial claims “as a ballot measure, it would be impossible to fix without another trip to the voting booth”, a misleading contention because the Arizona Constitution allows amendments which serve the purposes of a ballot measure. Also, if the Legislature thinks of a better way to address these problems, by simple majority vote it can put such a measure on the ballot.

The editorial attacks Prop 201’s authors for being “disingenuous” for including a provision that the warranty be “without additional or separate charge”. No one connected to Prop 201 has ever claimed that having a 10-year warranty would not cause a penny in added construction costs to improve quality, as “there is no free lunch” in this world. All Prop 201 authors were doing is preventing builders from suckering people into taking their new house without any warranty for a few dollars less in sticker price – because the entire neighborhood suffers when that home falls apart a few years later and the owner can’t afford to fix it. It’s like workers comp insurance –everyone has to buy it or else the system won’t work. Given that buyers will be in the drivers’ seat in the market for the foreseeable future, if a builder tries to pass on this cost rather than take it out of its profit, the buyer can “just say no.”

The editorial parades a bunch of absurd speculation: that people would put down deposits on multiple houses and then walk away from all but one, so builders might end up requiring higher deposits. Both sides of this speculation are absurd: how many homebuyers can afford to put up multiple deposits?  How many are so indecisive that they would do so? Further, is the editorial suggesting no builder’s lawyer has enough brains to write a sales contract that precludes the buyer from making multiple deposits? No homebuyer not currently in jail or a psych hospital is going to risk getting sued by a builder just to engage in the absurd behavior suggested by this editorial.

The editorial speculates that giving consumers a choice of contractors to do the repair work will add expense. But again, this offer of repair only happens if the builder tries to trigger the “notice and repair” law to block a consumer from obtaining relief from the courts. No choice need be offered if the builder is not trying to place games in the courthouse. Also, given that this builder is the one who screwed up in the first place, why should a homeowner be forced to go back to the same builder?

The editorial misleadingly asks “are unhappy home buyers eager for a choice of contractors or a speedy repair?” Nothing in the measure says that the builder cannot offer to do the repair faster than the alternative contractor. Also, given that Prop 201 gives consumers much more clout if the dispute has to go to court,  builders with half a brain will settle faster and repair the problem rather than what they do now, force consumers to file suit and wait around for litigation.

The editorial claims, “No other state has adopted a sweeping 10-year warranty for home buyers.” Again misleading: New Jersey and Louisiana both had adopted new home warranty statutes with 10 years’ protection against major structural defects.   The editorial complains that no state has all the things in Prop 201, but every state has a different law for construction defects, and most are much tougher than Arizona’s overall. Why should our state be among the worst in terms of consumer protection? Many of our citizens are seniors who deserve extra protection, not less.

The editorial states, “Any proposal should go through the Legislature, so it remains a system that can be tuned up”. The problem with this editorial’s “just trust the Legislature” approach is that homebuyers have no lobbyists and no campaign money to donate, unlike the homebuilding industry, meaning they have no clout in the Legislature. The whole reason the initiative process was adopted in the first place was to go around special interests like the builders lobby. Prop 201 helps tilt the balance back towards homebuyers.”  Once Prop 201 passes the Legislature is free to propose amendments to be put on the ballot any time: the Legislature will just have to think about what the voters want instead of the building companies’ lobbyists.

Rebekah Friend

Executive Director, Arizona AFL-CIO

Join AzAN’s Get Out The (Women’s) Vote Drive OR Become a Paid Poll Worker.

Join AzAN’s Get Out The Vote Drive, now through October 24th.  You will be paid for each valid vote-by-mail request form you secure from our target demographic groups in Pinal, Coconino, Yavapai, Gila, Navajo and Apache Counties.  The more valid forms you deliver, the more money you can make!  Most importantly, you’ll be empowering Arizona’s women by making sure they vote in the coming election.  If you are interested, please fill out the form below, send an email to Alexis@azadvocacy.org or call us at 602-297-2500.

BECOME A PAID POLL WORKER  (Even 16 & 17-year olds can do this!)
Anyone voting at a polling place depends upon well-informed poll workers to make sure his/her vote counts.  Maricopa County alone will need nearly 7,000 poll workers on November 4th.  AzAN hopes you will consider signing up.   We need people that are willing to work anywhere in the county.  We also need bi-lingual poll workers.  If you’re interested, please fill out the form below, send an email to pollworker@azadvocacy.org or call us at 602-297-2500.

• Does allowing a nearly 400 percent APR interest rate really constitute a “reform” of payday lending?
• Do further protections for insurance companies that refuse coverage constitute “Freedom of Choice” in health care?
• Does it make sense to require a 4/5ths Majority of those that vote to pass every citizen initiative?
• Do politicians think we’re so dumb that we won’t remember voting down marriage discrimination in 2006?

Find out the background, facts and likely impact of all eight 2008 ballot measures as well as who is supporting or opposing each measure, and how much money has been contributed to oppose or support each one.   

By Yvonne Wingett, Arizona Republic

Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock secretly videotaped a sometimes-testy sit-down with four advocates from Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, the Arizona Advocacy Network, and ACORN. It’s not illegal, but it does seem a bit ”deceitful” two of the advocates said.

They wanted to share concerns about the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office operations, specifically immigration sweeps, allegations of racial profiling, response times and fiscal oversight.

Two of the members contacted by Insider said they were outraged the meeting was surreptitiously taped – especially since they requested the get-together to build a trusting relationship.

“That’s something you would expect of the old Kremlin,” said Linda Brown, executive director of the Advocacy Network. “It’s an adversarial approach toward the citizens you are representing.  It certainly doesn’t show good faith. I think most voters would be shocked that our own elected officials — these are people that serve at the pleasure of the citizens, for the citizens — are conducting themselves in a way that is, in essence, spying on representatives of the community.”

The Insider is waiting for a callback from Brock, and a county spokesperson to see how many staff were in on the taping.

At the tail-end of the hour-long shindig, Brown discovered microphones under the table. The video then shows her asking Brock and his chief of staff, Eric Latto, point-blank if the meeting was being taped. Brock acknowledged it was.

When Brown called Brock out on the taping during the meeting, he said, “If you’re concerned about that, I apologize to you.”

The Aug. 4 meeting originally was supposed to be in Brock’s office, on the 10th floor of the county administration building in downtown Phoenix, said Brown. When the foursome arrived, guards directed them to the supervisor’s chambers, about a block away. It’s unusual for Supervisors to hold meetings in the chambers, other than full board meetings. Those are videotaped.

Washington, D.C. — Today in 52 cities across the country, including 38 state capitals, a new national campaign is bringing together millions of Americans to demand quality, affordable health care for all. Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is being launched by more than 100 national and state-based groups that represent labor, community organizations, doctors, nurses, women, small businesses, faith-based organizations, people of color, netroots activists, and think tanks.

The coalition – one of the largest single-issue efforts in modern-day progressive politics – is led by USAction, ACORN, AFSCME, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn.org, National Education Association, National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, SEIU, United Food and Commercial Workers.

“This is not a simple task,” said Jeff Blum, USAction  executive director. “After all, we’re talking about reforming one-sixth of the U. S. economy. We are up against the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry and their army of lobbyists who argue that health care is only for those who can afford it.”

Of the 52 events taking place around the country today, USAction affiliates are serving as the lead organization in 26 cities and are participating in an additional four events. USAction has helped organize the events and has assisted with the placement of staff in several key states.

Starting today, the campaign is spending an initial $1.5 million on national television, print, and online advertising and is sending out an email blast to more than 5 million people. Over the next five months, the coalition plans to spend $25 million in paid media, have organizers in 45 states, and will be asking members of Congress, “Which side are you on?”

“HCAN will mobilize millions of Americans to demand that the first order of business of the next President and Congress is to enact quality, affordable health care for all in 2009,” says Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager for Health Care for America Now. “We will be asking Members of Congress this year to tell us if they are on our side or the side of the health insurance industry.”

This is a bold new vision for health care reform:  Americans can keep the private insurance they have, join a new private insurance plan, or choose a public health insurance plan. The campaign also calls for a government role in setting and enforcing rules on the insurance industry which consistently charges whatever it wants, sets high deductibles, denies coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and drops coverage when people get sick.

“This group represents the deepest single-issue coalition in modern American history,” Blum said. “We – and the tens of millions of people we represent – know, as Dr. King said, that of all the forms of inequality, health care injustice is the most shocking and inhumane.”

David Elliot
(202) 263-4567
delliot@usaction.org

On June 30th, President Bush signed into law a $162 billion War Supplemental spending bill, providing an additional $130 billion for the Iraq War alone.  This new funding brings the total allocated for the Iraq War to $656.1 billion.

NPP has updated its local cost of war numbers to reflect this new total, also showing what this war funding could buy your community if it was spent on domestic needs instead.  Go here: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home, to get the numbers for your state, congressional district, county, city or town.

Average medical expenditures per person are lower under public programs like Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) than under private insurance, according to new research published by Health Affairs.  The new study analyses data from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.  The research suggests that enrolling uninsured low-income people in Medicaid should cost less than enrolling them in private insurance — and that expanding public programs like Medicaid would likely be a more cost-effective way to cover uninsured people with low or moderate incomes.  Public insurance is particularly advantageous from the consumer’s perspective because associated out-of-pocket spending is far lower.