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Goldwater Institute targets Arizona student group by Anne Ryman - Sept. 27, 2012 09:55 PM The Republic | azcentral.com A report by a conservative Phoenix think tank is raising legal questions about an Arizona university student group's contribution to support a permanent sales-tax hike for education. The Goldwater Institute report says the Arizona Students' Association broke its bylaws earlier this year when the non-profit group gave $122,000 to support the Yes on Proposition 204 campaign. The money went to the Quality Education and Jobs Committee, a political-action committee, that supports the controversial initiative. The measure would permanently extend the temporary 1-cent-per-dollar educational sales tax scheduled to expire May 31. The report says four students who sit on the ASA board resigned this week in protest of how the group's funds have been spent. ASA represents more than 130,000 students who attend Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. The group is funded through a $2 per-semester fee applied to each's student's bill. In fiscal 2011, the group reported total revenue of $608,612 on its federal tax return. Casey Dreher,ASA's executive director, says the institute's allegations are off base and the group's actions are "100 percent legal." "We have a prudent, nonpartisan board of directors who are diverse. Prop. 204 was supported by 74 percent of our board of directors in April," he said. Goldwater's report, released Thursday afternoon, says the contributions raise legal questions about whether the group's actions are unconstitutional "compelled speech." The report says the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on similar cases that people can't be forced to pay for political speech with which they disagree. Goldwater contends that because all students are required to pay the fee and the method for getting a fee refund is cumbersome, the fee "may violate the First Amendment rights of university students." The institute said it is considering legal action. ASA's Dreher said the fee is "100-percent refundable" for any student who disagrees with the organization. "Any time they feel their voice is not being heard, they are welcome to request a refund," he said. Proposition 204 is on the Nov. 6 statewide ballot and would generate at least $1 billion annually, according to projections by state legislative council. Most of the money would go toward K-12 education, with the rest earmarked for roads, community colleges, universities, Department of Public Safety officers and KidsCare, a program providing medical treatment for children of the working poor. The state university system would get a $50 million cut of the money, or more proportionally if annual sales-tax proceeds exceed $1 billion, for university scholarships, operations and infrastructure. The universities would have to spend at least half of the money on scholarships to help Arizona residents based on financial need or student academic merit. The state Legislature also would be prohibited from cutting the each university's state funding below amounts appropriated in fiscal 2012. |