PHOENIX — A measure crafted by Republican lawmakers aimed at the Arizona Education Association is unconstitutional and cannot appear on the November ballot, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Greg Como said it would have been one thing had the measure simply asked voters to bar schools from using public funds to aid labor organizations. That includes everything from allowing union information to be distributed on campus to having union dues deducted from employee paychecks.
But Como noted that Proposition 143, as sent to the ballot, also includes a section barring state or local governments from negotiating with any labor organization at all about the terms and conditions of employment. And that, the judge concluded, violates a provision in the Arizona Constitution that prohibits voters being asked to approve two or more unrelated issues on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.
