Opposition is building to a measure that slid through the state Legislature which asks Arizona voters to approve a plan to tap a land trust account to boost education funding.
Supporters of Proposition 123 have formed a campaign committeeand raised close to half a million dollars. They're backed by Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona Education Association President Andrew Morrill and a host of business leaders. But more than four dozen individuals paid $75 to put statements of opposition into a brochure rundown of the proposition being mailed to voters ahead of the May 17 election.
Among the opposition is state Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who calls the plan financially unsound and says it's designed to ensure there are tax breaks for businesses. But he hasn't organized an opposition campaign quite yet.
"I want to do something. But I don't know what that entails yet. I don't know if I'm better to be the face of the opposition or to be just part of the opposition," he said.
Attorney Brian Clymer, in his own statement of opposition, pointed out that if voters approve the measure it would put a provision into the state Constitution saying once aid to education hits 49 percent of the state budget, lawmakers don't have to provide inflation funding-- even with some studies showing Arizona dead last in the country for per pupil funding.
"That 49 percent of the state budget limit means that we will never even be at the median, be at the middle, of states in educational funding," Clymer said. "So I'm very concerned that this is going to relegate us to the bottom, or certainly the lower half."