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Proposed Arizona Bill Would Ban Out-Of-State Campaign Contributions

Bob Thorpe
Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services
Bob Thorpe

In 2018, groups from outside Arizona spent more than $24 million on ballot initiatives concerning renewable energy.

Republican state Rep. Bob Thorpe wants to put a stop to that.

His new bill would make it a crime for anybody who isn’t an Arizona resident to contribute to campaigns for or against candidates and ballot measures.

"You think about somebody, multi-millionaire in North Carolina, they put money into an initiative here in Arizona, get it enacted," said Thorpe. "It might be really terrible legislation, terrible law. They never have to live under the consequences of bad laws they helped enact. I think that's extremely unfair."

Tom Collins, the director of Citizens Clean Elections Commission, says Thorpe’s bill is most likely unconstitutional and would probably be challenged.