Accusations that “out-of-state special interests tried to deceive” Arizona voters when they placed the Prop 208 tax hike on the 2020 ballot appear to be true, based on campaign finance filings from several left-wing groups. The questions around the sources of funding followed a decision by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Friday that found Prop 208 to be unconstitutional.
The statement was made by Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann, who opposed what she and others said was Prop 208’s “job-killing tax hike,” pushed by the National Education Association and an Oregon-based organization, Stand for Children LLC.
Fann was a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Prop 208 brought by the Goldwater Institute.
In September 2021, the Invest in Arizona Now coalition, made up of the Arizona Education Association and other labor union advocate groups, turned in enough of voter signatures to get the tax hike on the ballot for the 2022 election.
The supporters of the proposition claimed it was a grassroots effort. However, there is considerable evidence that the scheme was anything but organic.
In October 2020, AZ Petition Partners LLC, an Arizona Limited Liability Company doing business as “Petition Partners,” was charged with 50 misdemeanor counts in connection with alleged payments under illegal bonus programs purportedly paid to contracted petition circulators gathering signatures for Prop 208.
The charging document filed on October 29, 2020 by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office lists fifty instances where bonuses were allegedly paid to individual signature gatherers through the “Duel for the Dollars” and “Weekend Warriors” bonus programs in June 2020 organized by Petition Partners through the company’s manager, Andrew D. Chavez.
RELATED ARTICLE: Company Charged For Alleged Illegal Payments To Prop 208 Initiative Circulators
According to AZ FREE News, Arizona taxpayers began questioning why the Oregon-based organization, Stand for Children LLC, poured money into the Arizona ballot measure that “would raise taxes on already struggling small business owners.”
AZ FREE News cited a report by the Western Journal, discussing Stand For Children AZ, “an advocacy group that exists under the same umbrella as the Stand for Children Leadership Center — has contributed at least $3,353,463.08 to Invest in Ed, according to a second-quarter campaign finance report.”
At the time, the Free Enterprise Club also called out the Oregon-based organization on Twitter:
Prop 208, the largest tax hike in AZ history, is being bankrolled by Oregon-based Stand For Children. They pumped $4 Million into the effort, accounting for 90% of their total funding. It was a staggering sum, and it turns out that they used taxpayer money to make it happen.
— Free Enterprise Club (@azfec) September 29, 2020
The second-largest source of funds, nearly $2.4 million, came from Stand for Children Arizona, the local chapter of the national education advocacy group, Stand for Children. Stand for Children’s Arizona chapter hasn’t always donated to Invest in Arizona. Up until last July, their national organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon was responsible for those million-dollar donations.
Together, the NEA and Stand for Children Arizona comprised the vast majority of Invest in Arizona’s funds. Individual contributions amounted to just over $16,600, while total funds were reported to be over $4.7 million.
RELATED ARTICLE: Invest in Arizona Pulled Millions from Out-of-State Donors
As further evidence that support for the proposition was not organic, AZ Free News reported that a “majority of the over-$4 million that Invest in Arizona raised went toward operating expenses – signature gathering to submit their two referendums. The top recipients, in order, were: Fieldworks LLC with nearly $4 million alone, Save Our Schools Arizona with $115,000, Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity (AZ AANHPI For Equity) Coalition with $10,000, Fieldcorps LLC with $75,500, La Machine with $65,000, and Valley Interfaith Project with $29,000.”
Opponents to the proposition say the money already exists in the budget for teachers’ raises, but school district leadership is choosing to allocate their funds on administration salaries and other projects rather than directly in the classrooms.
After the judge’s ruling on Prop 208, an Arizona teacher complained about the ruling, but admitted in a tweet that some school districts are using their money as legislators intended. “Days like yesterday, with the defeat of Prop 208, make me so greatful (sic) I work in a district that values their professional educators. This last week the board for @higleydistrict (HUSD) gave EVERYONE, not just educators, a 7% raise. They couldve done less, but they stepped up,” Casey Durkiewicz, a World History teacher at Highley High tweeted.
Days like yesterday, with the defeat of Prop 208, make me so greatful I work in a district that values their professional educators. This last week the board for @higleydistrict (HUSD) gave EVERYONE, not just educators, a 7% raise. They couldve done less, but they stepped up.
— Casey Durkiewicz (@durkiewicz2004) March 12, 2022