With efforts by one set of foes already rebuffed, the state’s top Republican lawmakers are making their own bid to quash a new state law designed to shine a light on “dark money.”
In a new court filing, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma contend that Proposition 211 infringes on the constitutional right of the Legislature to make laws. Now they want Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz to override what voters approved just last year.
The new litigation comes less than two months after a different Maricopa judge tossed out a challenge filed by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and the Center for Arizona Policy. Scott McCoy rejected their claims that the requirements of the law to disclose the true identity of those who spend money to affect candidate races and ballot measures violates the rights of donors.
A separate challenge is pending in federal court where Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers, contends Proposition 211 results in “government doxxing” of those who contribute to political groups. No ruling has been made in that case.