Morrison Institute for Public Policy Publications Archives

As Arizona pulls itself out of the deepest recession that it has faced since the Great Depression, this 105th Arizona Town Hall is convened to examine Arizona’s economy. In Arizona Town Hall’s fifty-two year history, this is the eleventh time citizens from across the state have come together to reflect on the current state of Arizona’s economy and how best to shape its future.

There are nearly 214,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 in metropolitan Los Angeles who are neither working nor in school. These “Opportunity Youth” (OY) present a staggering challenge to the area in terms of lost wages and burden of social services alone. The number of OY has decreased steadily since the end of the recession. However, in 2014, OY were more White, more educated, more likely to speak English in the home and more likely be on food stamps than in previous years. This demographic shift implicates a larger portion of those who are not traditionally considered “at risk”; a group that has historically not received much support.

Opportunity Youth in Los Angeles impose an estimated lifetime burden on taxpayers of $43.2 billion and a lifetime social burden of $129.3 billion. Nationally, the 5.5 million Opportunity Youth have a potential taxpayer burden of $1.30 trillion and an aggregate social burden of $3.87 trillion. Figures like this signal a clear need for action.

The Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC) is a policy center of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. Through studies, AMEPAC’s mission is to stimulate constructive statewide discussion and debate about improving Arizona minority students’ early awareness, access, and achievement throughout the educational attainment process. Our vision is that all Arizona students succeed in higher education as a result of quality research that shapes policy on critical issues.

AMEPAC is proud to provide policymakers, educators, and the public with this 6th edition of the Minority Student Progress Report titled The Transformation Continues: Minority Student Progress Report 2016. The report provides a current “snapshot” of the educational achievement of minority students in Arizona, from pre-k through postsecondary education. In addition, trend analyses of key educational indicators are also provided to give readers a sense of how the status of minority education in Arizona has changed over time.

In the wake of the 2016 Presidential Preference Election primary, where voters in Maricopa County stood in line for hours in many cases to cast a ballot in already-decided races and for independents provincial ballots that wouldn't count anyway, Arizonans continue to seek to have a larger and direct voice in government. In Building and Rebuilding An Election System in Arizona: Where We've Been, Where We're Going, Morrison Institute Senior Research Fellow David Berman examines Arizona's historical, recent and ongoing pursuit of "a new kind of politics" via everything from election reform to term limits to ballot propositions.

This March 19, 2015 review of Arizona's state budget looks at the balancing act between fiscal responsibility and social investment in education and other public programs:

In what felt like record time – far earlier than the normal 100-day target – the Arizona Legislature passed the first budget of Governor Doug Ducey’s term. Its quick passage was hailed as an example of collaboration between the Governor and fellow Republican leadership, with the minority Democratic Party again unable to muster a meaningful role in the budget’s specifics or direction.

The $9.1 billion budget, approved by both houses in a marathon overnight session, held close to much of what the Governor had proposed in taking office.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provided states the option to expand Medicaid coverage, which Arizona did with Governor Jan Brewer’s signature in June 2013. Despite clashing with members of her own Republican party, the then-governor pushed the bill through the Legislature to take advantage of federal incentives to increase health care coverage for the poor.

Although successful in its passage, the state’s Medicaid restoration law remains at risk. That’s because 36 GOP legislators opposed to the Medicaid eligibility expansion sued, and the issue is now in the courts.

The decision about how to vote on Proposition 123 hinges on complex issues of education and state trust land finances. Morrison Institute has assembled a guide to some of the most important points to consider before you complete your ballot.

Proposition 124 would amend the Arizona Constitution to create an exception to the current prohibition against diminishing or impairing public retirement systems benefits by allowing adjustments to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS).

In September 2014 ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy conducted the state’s first Citizens Initiative Review (CIR). MI invited 20 participants to deliberate for 3½ days over a pension reform measure on the city ballot to develop a factually vetted, one-page Citizens’ Statement with the pros and cons of the initiative. The goal of the CIR is to help other voters make a more informed decision on specific initiatives before going to the ballot box. This report, funded by the Kettering Foundation, analyzes CIR participant interviews conducted six weeks and six months later to show how values, beliefs, and behaviors towards democratic habits, public action, and community engagement may have been changed through their involvement, if at all. The report concludes with lessons learned and the contributions of the CIR to creating a more democratic Arizona.