Proposition 123 Is Only Tip Of Ominous Iceberg
Proposition 123 is only the tip of an ominous iceberg. Toting up the dollars today, the principal of the fund that provides supplemental revenue to K-12 schools is $4.8 billion. Budget forecasts show that fund should have $9.0 billion in principal by 2025. However, if 123 passes, the amount of money taken from the land trust during the intervening years will exceed the return on the investments and will require consumption of principal, reducing the principal to $6.2 billion in 2025. Again, those are projections and the actual value in 2025 will depend on market forces, but Proposition 123 stands to diminish the fund painfully and dramatically. Yet, the proposition seems to have powerful friends:
Per the Arizona Secretary of State, the Proposition 123 coffers runneth over with more than $3.7 million—that’s million with an M—in contributions, and spending of a comparatively meager $320 thousand. (Conversely, the committee in opposition has collected $617.00 and spent $173.00. Not millions. Not hundreds of thousands. Not even thousands. Six hundred seventeen dollars.) For what possible purpose could “Let’s Vote Yes” require staggering sum of money, if they have had no cause to spend roughly $3.4 million in campaigning? In two weeks, when this election is over, don’t expect to see the Prop 123 folks pouring their spare reserves into the classrooms directly. Of course, political fundraising machines are allowed to contribute to other such campaigns as well. And there are more ballot measures to come in November.
To read more: Proposition 123 Is Only Tip Of Ominous Iceberg – click here