The vast majority of funding for an initiative campaign to raise income taxes on individuals and small businesses comes from out-of-state unions and interest groups, according to a . 

Since January, InvestInEd, the group backing Proposition 208, has raised more than $4.6 million, however only $31,143 have come from individual contributions made by Arizonans. The remaining 99.3 percent has come from Portland, Oregon-based Stand for Children, the Arizona Education Association, and other special interest groups. 

鈥淎rizona鈥檚 initiative process was never intended to be a petri dish for experimental policy cooked up by wealthy special interests from around the country,鈥� Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi said .

In May, InvestInEd as 鈥淎 grassroots movement to restore K-12 education funding and power our economic recovery.鈥� 

However, the group鈥檚 campaign finance records belie the claims of the initiative鈥檚 supporters that the campaign enjoys deep Arizona-based grassroots support.

Nearly all pro-Prop. 208 funding coming from special interests

The initiative campaign has raised more than $4.6 million this year from:

路      Stand for Children, Inc. Portland, Oregon-based Stand for Children is funding the majority of the initiative campaign, with over 87 percent of contributions totaling $4,081,574 coming from the group. The vast majority of their contributions have been earmarked for signature collection. The group is active in nine states and previously supported a similar Arizona ballot initiative in 2018 that failed to secure a spot on the ballot. 

路      Arizona Education Association The Arizona Education Association, the National Education Association鈥檚 Arizona affiliate, has contributed $456,780. The National Education Association, based in Washington, D.C. is the nation鈥檚 largest labor union with over 2.2 million members.

路      Children鈥檚 Action Alliance The Children鈥檚 Action Alliance, an advocacy group, has contributed more than $85,000 to the ballot initiative.

路      Arizona Individual Contributions Arizonans themselves have contributed $31,143 to the group, only .67 percent of all contributions.

路      Save our Schools Arizona Save our Schools Arizona, another advocacy group, has contributed $23,100. This group in 2018 to Proposition 305. That vote resulted in fewer Arizona families having access to private school choice. The group also to a legislative reform adopted in 2020 allowing Navajo children to access the Empowerment Scholarship Account program to attend a private school on the Navajo Nation on the New Mexico side of the stateline.

History of out-of-state interest groups funding Arizona ballot initiatives

According to Mussi, 鈥淏ased on the current signature requirements and constitutional protections for paying circulators to collect signatures, it is possible to gather enough signatures to qualify a measure for the ballot for around $2 million dollars.鈥�

Because of this relatively low barrier to entry, Arizona has had multiple ballot initiative efforts funded by out-of-state groups each election year.

In 2016, Arizonans For Fair Wages and Healthy Families used the ballot initiative process to raise Arizona鈥檚 minimum wage and impose a new paid leave mandate on Arizona employers. The group from national groups such as the CPD Action, the National Education Association, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Two years later, Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona鈥� by California billionaire and 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer鈥檚 NextGen Climate Action鈥攇athered enough signatures for a proposition to require Arizona to use at least 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. Sixty-eight percent of Arizonans voted against it.

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Following an unprecedented primary election waged in the midst of an economic recession and global pandemic, Arizona voters on Tuesday cast their ballots in primary battles across the state. 

With many races still too close to call, voters now turn their attention to the November general election.

You can find results from yesterday鈥檚 state legislative races at the Arizona Secretary of State鈥檚 Office .

Shifting ground

The November election will determine control of the state Legislature, where Republicans hold a 31-29 advantage in the state House, and 17-13 advantage in the state Senate. 

Political observers expect Legislative District 6, which encompasses large swaths of northern and eastern Arizona, to be a major battleground in a Senate race pitting Republican Wendy Rogers against Democrat Felecia French. Rogers defeated incumbent senator Sylvia Allen in the GOP primary.

Legislative District 17 in Chandler and Gilbert, and the West Valley鈥檚 Legislative District 20, which were once reliably Republican, are also expected to feature hotly contested Senate races.

Legislative District 28, which includes north central Phoenix, will once again match Republican incumbent Sen. Kate Brophy McGee against Democratic challenger Christine Marsh. This is Marsh鈥檚 second attempt at the Senate seat, losing in 2018 by fewer than 300 votes.

Business Ballot

As the state shifts its attention to the general election, the Arizona 番茄社区 Foundation is launching a new project that will inform job creators and workers on election information and candidates鈥� records on business. also will provide detailed analyses of ballot initiatives that will come before voters in November.

Currently a subpage of the 番茄社区 Foundation鈥檚 website, Business Ballot will soon transition to a website of its own. 

On its website, Business Ballot will feature the following:

• Analyses of each ballot initiative
• Analyses of key legislative, statewide, and local races
• Detailed articles on certain issues
• Perspectives on issues from leaders in industry and public policy
• Post-primary update + future developments

番茄社区 Endorsements

The Arizona 番茄社区 of Commerce鈥檚 slate of stood up well last night. Many pro-business and pro-economic-growth candidates in both parties won their primaries.

Speaking on the endorsements in June, Glenn Hamer, 番茄社区 president and CEO, said, 鈥淎rizona is counting on their leadership to develop the policies necessary to emerge from the pandemic just as we entered it鈥攚ith one of the nation鈥檚 strongest economies.鈥�

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