AZ Governmental and Non-Governmental Reports

The State of Arizona is facing an unprecedented amount of debt-some $37 billion. The heap of debt is leading to calls for reform to keep Arizona solvent. Although various reforms, limits, and oversight may have merit, there is a simpler alternative: follow the state constitution’s debt limit. To protect taxpayers, the framers included a stringent debt limit of $350,000 in the Arizona Constitution. But to the state’s detriment, politicians have evaded the limit with creative debt-hiding schemes. Debt is often labeled a lease or given another name. Complicated financial agreements are also used to hide debt. And judges have failed to enforce the “debt limit” clause. Instead of protecting Arizona taxpayers from financial straits and upholding the constitution’s plain language, judges have interpreted the word “debt” in an absurdly narrow fashion when it comes to government. Politicians and judges need to return to the simple genius of the state constitution to ensure that taxpayers have the protection the constitution promises.

View the Goldwater Institute’s press release on the report.