Prop. 105: Majority Rule-Let The People Decide Act
“Since 1998, Arizona voters have approved a series of initiatives that raised taxes
or fees or mandated state spending.”(Benson, A.R), that right there is what Arizona voters are going to be dealing with in the upcoming years. Past ballot elections have been passed or rejected by simply counting the number of votes voted for or against that proposition, simple as that. Not dealing with the “non-voters” who in this case are having a negative impact on the voting ballots by canceling out other voters. And now with a new proposition coming into play, many people wonder if this new act will make passing new taxes or laws easier or harder in future elections. Arizona as well as other states are known for increasing taxes on tobacco goods and casinos as well, so that is why it shouldn’t be a problem with prop. 105 being introduced in this years ballots. Will this new proposition lend us a helping hand in new taxes and initiatives or will it limit them to us?
Ever wondered why some consumer goods cost more now than they did 2 to 4 years ago? Same goes for taxes and how they have increased in past years and the fore coming ones that follow also. We’ll prop. 105 deals with just that and also other initiatives that Arizona voters will have to face in this years ballot elections. Proposition simply states that when a new law is introduced or higher taxes are going to be imposed, a majority of voters must be accounted for in order for that initiative to pass. Therefore it implies the name “majority rule” meaning that more than 51 percent must vote “for” or “against” that law or tax increase. Discussing key points for each side of the argument(s) will help voters improve their knowledge on whether to vote for this proposition or not. For example, voting for prop. 105 is saying that future initiatives will need a majority vote in order for it to pass and voting against it would mean to leave our laws and taxes to voter turnouts, interest groups and the state government as they are now.
I believe that I would go for this proposition. The reason why is because I feel that it is wrong to let the government handle our budget deficient or let interest groups raise our taxes without our consent or when it is not really necessary. “Since the initiative has been taken over by lobbyist and special interest groups…”(Ballot), a very good example of how tax hikes have been placed as well as other laws. We the citizens of this state must take action and do something about this before any situations get out of hand and go beyond our control. I also believe that the people’s voice is a lot stronger than that of the governments, so which leads me to believe that we are makes this state and it is what makes us. The majority rule should be placed in effect to protect ourselves from those interest groups and keeping them at bay from taxing us. I’m not so much worried about the non-voters being counted for since our population has grown by so much over the past couple years. It is also expected that more people will get out and vote more often this year with the presidential elections and this states ballots coming into play.
By passing proposition 105, we would be setting a new standard in the voting rules. Meaning, that a majority rule vote will be placed in effect for future tax and laws that our government wants to place in this state. Voting fro prop. 105 also decreases the chance for our state government board or special interest groups from spending money on what they feel needs to be spent on and not what voters want. Small businesses also have an affect on them as well when it comes to raising higher taxes. If a small business were to get a tax hike, that would mean that it‘s service goods would go up in price therefore making it harder for business to generate. Assuming that business does not go well, it will have to lay off employees or go out of business. That is why we need to keep taxing at a minimum to protect our economy and prevent any future debts. “The Majority Rules initiative would also make it harder for special interest groups to use ballot initiatives to raise our taxes.”(Americans of Prosperity), an example on why interest groups and tax hikes will hurt us in the long run. All of who would benefit from prop. 105 would be the voters of Arizona, giving an ideal form of freedom in our budget systems and also with the government when it comes to new laws and such. Voting yes for prop. 105 will make our voices be heard even louder and help make better decisions in the future to come.
On the other hand, we have those who don’t want to pass this proposition. Those that are against it say that it should be left the way it is since there hasn’t been any problems reported on the way things are now. It also states that “Non-voters essentially would be counted as “no” votes under this scenario, significantly raising the bar for victory.”(Benson, A.R), that makes it seem unfair by counting non-voters over those who actually went out and voted. Outvoting is not the right way to pass a new legislation and therefore those against this act are not tolerating it, stating that it’s unfair and ridicules. Against this act would also limit our tax hikes on this state therefore limiting support for schools, parks, wildlife, hospitals and many more things. If we were to limit taxes in the past years, how would we have money to support our education. A good example would be from a lawsuit a few years back against a tobacco company, we used that money to support education in Arizona Those that are against this prop argue mostly on the fact that “non-voters” should not be counted leaving that outvoting others should not be allowed in any way shape or form and that the voting system should be left the way it is now.
I would believe that this proposition is one that would be hard to find a common ground on. One side wants to increase taxes and leave the voting system the way it is while the other side wants to make a change for the better, or so we are told. We would all like to have our taxes not so high as to go into further debt but also not to low so we don’t have enough to support our schools, hospitals, and other places. Taxes are good and bad at the same time, so maybe a proposal where it can even will probably make it better. We need an economy to the point where it can be stable, where everyone is content with the new legislations and easier to deal with financial state budgets. Its up to every single person to go out and vote in this year’s ballot elections and vote for either side A or side B. I still stand on voting “for” this proposition because I believe it will lend us a helping hand and not limit us in many ways. There are a few drawbacks to each side but that is the responsibility of the voter to figure out which one works best for them.
