Taxpayer-Funded Electioneering? Time to Hold Local Government Accountable.

Arizonans should be able to hold their local government accountable for illegally abusing public resources to influence elections. But under current law, citizens are often left with little recourse when local officials campaign on the taxpayers’ dime.  

SB1036, sponsored by Senator John Kavanagh, closes this loophole. The reform, which passed the Senate this week, allows citizens to sue city, county, or school district officials who violate the law by using public resources to influence elections. 

For decades, Arizonans have recognized the importance of ensuring public funds are not used to electioneer. In 2013, the legislature even expanded restrictions on taxpayer-funded electioneering to stop local government entities from broadcasting biased messaging—effectively campaigning—in support of or against ballot measures. 

However, Arizona law only allows the state attorney general or county attorneys to prosecute city, county, or school district officials who electioneer with public funds. If the AG or the county attorney do not bring enforcement actions against bad actors, the misconduct simply goes unpunished. This is especially true for county attorneys, who are often tasked with handling high-priority public health and safety cases, and who might not have the bandwidth or the procedural time to prosecute electioneering misconduct. 

That’s why we need SB 1036. After all, due to the time-sensitive nature of election activities, it is often taxpayers themselves who are in the best position to identify taxpayer-funded campaigning and quickly bring an enforcement action to stop it.  

Standardizing enforcement procedures is a necessary reform to ensure that elected officials are held accountable for illegally campaigning with taxpayer funds. This commonsense legislation recognizes that it is government’s role to impartially administer elections—not to interfere with their outcomes.