Arizonans will decide on a ballot initiative designed to limit interest rates on debt from healthcare services. The proposal is the first initiative certified for the ballot in Arizona for November and the first of three initiatives with signatures under review to be certified. There are also eight legislative referrals on the ballot in Arizona.
Certification of the ballot initiative came after legal challenges were rejected by a judge. On August 17, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz rejected a legal challenge to the measure saying that paid petition circulators were improperly registered with the secretary of state’s office.
If approved by voters, the measure would set limits on interest rates for debt accumulated from receiving healthcare services equal to either the weekly average one-year constant maturity treasury yield or 3%, whichever is less. It would increase the amount of homestead exempt from debt collection from $150,000 to $400,000. It would also increase the amount of value of household furnishings, motor vehicles, bank account funds, and disposable earnings exempt from debt collection processes.
In order to qualify for the ballot, signature petitioners needed to collect at least 237,645 valid signatures. Signatures were verified through a random sampling process. On July 7, the Arizonans Fed Up with Failing Healthcare campaign submitted 472,296 signatures to the secretary of state. Out of these signatures, 333,958 signatures are projected to be valid.
Currently, there are eight other certified measures on the ballot in Arizona. They are:
- Proposition 308, which would allow in-state tuition for certain non-citizen residents
- Proposition 309, which would require date of birth and voter identification number for mail-in ballots and eliminate the two-document alternative to photo ID for in-person voting
- Proposition 310, which would create a sales tax to fund Arizona’s fire districts
- Proposition 182, which would allow the legislature to amend or repeal voter-approved ballot measures that contain provisions ruled unconstitutional or invalid by the state or federal supreme court
- Proposition 129, which would require citizen-initiated ballot measures to embrace a single subject
- Proposition 130, which would allow the legislature to set certain property tax exemption amounts and qualifications rather than determining details in the constitution
- Proposition 131, which would create the office of lieutenant governor
- Proposition 132, which would require a three-fifths supermajority vote to pass ballot initiatives and legislatively referred amendments that would approve taxes
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