Arizona Proposition 132: 60% Vote Requirement for Taxes

Arizona Proposition 132 is a constitutional amendment, approved by voters in November 2022, that requires any ballot measure creating or increasing a tax to receive at least 60% of the vote to take effect. Every other kind of ballot measure in Arizona still passes by simple majority. Proposition 132 itself squeaked by with 50.72% support, winning by fewer than 35,000 votes out of roughly 2.4 million cast.

What the 60% Rule Covers

The supermajority threshold applies to any initiative or referendum that would “approve a tax.” That language is broad. It reaches a proposed new income tax, a sales tax increase, a property tax levy, or any other form of taxation. The path onto the ballot does not matter either. Citizen-petition initiatives and measures the Legislature refers to voters both trigger the 60% requirement when they involve approving a tax.¹

The rule reaches local ballots too. Arizona’s constitution reserves initiative and referendum powers to residents of every incorporated city, town, and county for local matters, and Proposition 132 amends those provisions broadly.¹ A city sales tax renewal or a school district tax levy placed before voters must now clear 60%, the same as a statewide measure. In practical terms, 40% plus one can defeat a tax proposal that a clear majority supports. A measure could win 59% of the vote and still fail.

What Falls Outside the Rule

Non-tax ballot measures are unaffected. An initiative or referendum about election procedures, criminal sentencing, environmental regulation, or any other subject still passes by simple majority.

The amendment’s language repeatedly says “approve a tax,” so a measure that lowers a tax rate or repeals a tax altogether does not trigger the 60% threshold and still passes by majority.

Fees are a separate category from taxes, though the amendment does not define either term. A tax generally raises revenue for general government purposes, while a fee is a charge tied to a specific service or regulatory function. A ballot measure proposing a new fee would not fall under the 60% rule. Where the line sits in a disputed case would be a question for the courts.

Proposition 132 also does not change how the Legislature itself raises taxes. A separate provision of the Arizona Constitution, in place since voters approved Proposition 108 in 1992, requires a two-thirds vote of both chambers to increase state revenue, with a three-fourths override threshold if the governor vetoes.²³ Those legislative rules operate independently.

Extra Protection for Tax Measures That Clear 60%

Proposition 132 makes tax measures harder to pass, and it also makes tax measures that do pass harder to undo. A tax initiative or referendum approved by at least 60% of voters is shielded three ways:¹

The governor cannot veto it.
The Legislature cannot repeal it.
The Legislature can amend it only if the changes further the measure’s original purposes and at least three-fourths of each chamber votes yes.

The same protections apply to any fund the measure creates or any revenue it earmarks. Money raised by a voter-approved tax cannot be redirected unless three-fourths of both chambers agree and the reallocation advances the measure’s goals.¹ A tax measure that clears the 60% bar becomes durable law.

Why the Legislature Put It on the Ballot

The immediate backdrop was Proposition 208, the 2020 Invest in Education Act. That citizen initiative added an income tax surcharge on high earners and earmarked the revenue for teachers, classrooms, and career and technical education. Voters approved it, but a Maricopa County Superior Court judge later struck down its funding provisions as unconstitutional.

Even before the courts intervened, legislative leaders viewed citizen-initiated tax increases as a workaround of the Legislature’s control over fiscal policy. In 2021, Senator Vince Leach introduced SCR 1034, the resolution that placed Proposition 132 on the 2022 ballot.⁴ The argument was that raising taxes at the ballot box should require more than 50% plus one.

The Vote and the Margin

Proposition 132 received 1,210,702 yes votes to 1,176,327 no votes. It won by less than 35,000 votes statewide. As a procedural constitutional amendment rather than a tax measure, it needed only a simple majority to pass.

Critics have noted that Proposition 132 could not have met its own standard. Supporters have said the amendment addresses process rather than taxation, so a simple majority was the appropriate threshold for a structural change to how the ballot works. The narrow margin shows how contested the shift was.

Legal Status

Before the 2022 election, opponents raised constitutional concerns, including whether the amendment violated the separate-amendment rule that limits a proposed constitutional change to a single subject. No post-election court challenge has successfully overturned it. Proposition 132 remains in effect as part of Article 4 of the Arizona Constitution and governs every future ballot measure that would approve a tax.¹

1
Justia. Arizona Constitution Article 4 Part 1 Section 1 – Legislative Authority; Initiative and Referendum
2
Justia. Arizona Constitution Article 9 Section 22 – Vote Required to Increase State Revenues; Application; Exceptions
3
Arizona Legislature. Senate Fact Sheet for S.B. 1056
4
Arizona Legislature. SCR 1034 – Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session