Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page F4

LINDA VALDEZ EDITORIAL WRITER Can we make it through this legisla- ive session without any major embarrassment? No right-to-refuse service ills. No official state sanction of racial profiling. No easy punch lines for the national media. a lot to expect from a Repub- ican-ruled Legislature where extremism in defense of the ridiculous is cons idered a virtue. have to grit our teeth through another session.

But we have to keep it this way. here are two ideas that could shake an unsatisfactory status quo. Step 1: Nix the two-party primary First, you get rid of partisan primaries. The system is a relic. These days, eople who register to vote with no part affiliation make up the largest group voters in the state.

They can vote in partisan primaries, but few independents engage in elections devised to serve the political parties they have al- eady rejected. artisan primaries are ruled by a ew die-hard voters who represent the fringes of each party. Because most districts are not competitive, the prim ary candidates those extremists pick usually win in November. No moderates need apply. In 2012, there was a ballot initiative to create a non-partisan, open primary system.

It looked popular, but it failed after a campaign raised doubts in minds. You learn a lot from says former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, who championed the measure. made a checklist of what to do differently. ready to try again to pass an open primary initiative. Step 2: Shine a light on dark money Now about that dark money.

Former Arizona Attorney General erry Goddard is leading the effort to establish a state constitutional right for you to know who is spending money to i nfluence elections. Currently, certain non-profit organi- ations can collect unlimited anonymous donations that can be used to buy elections. I 2012, dark money campaigns defeatedthe effort to extend a one-cent sales tax for education, as well as the open primary effort. Questions about dark money haunt the Arizona Corporation Commission. Outside money helped Republican Gov.

Doug Ducey beat Fred DuVal in 2014. That year, spending to influence races in Arizona by groups outside the state hit $27.3 million. At least 46 percent of that spending was from dark Pair of xes will improve our elections learn a lot from AUL JOHNSON FORMER MAYOR OF PHOENIX ROBERT ROBB EDITORIAL COLUMNIST rom the political notebook: Republicans want to make the case that President Obama habitually oversteps his authority as president. Ibelieve he has done so, massively, with creating a new immigration status for those brought to this country illegally as children and in having the federal government dictate the energy choices of state-regulated utilities through his Clean Power Plan. And I believe this is a big-time of- ense.

Our system of government depends on the checks and balances of which the separation of powers is an essential element. Ifear, however, that it is a yawner politically. The body politic today seems indifferent, dangerously so, to the delicate balances the founders intended as a check on government power. However, if the argument is to be made, substantively or politically, Republicans have to be careful about their accusations. Crying wolf hurts the ause.

And in the case of executive actions on guns, Republicans are crying wolf. Nothing Obama announced is a new policy with respect to regulating guns. All of it amounted to an announcement of how the administration was going to attempt to better enforce existing law. And what the executive branch does. The only thing Obama announced that even has the potential to overstep executive branch authority was the tighten- ing of which gun retailers have to conduct background checks.

Congress intended to exempt casual sales between individuals from such checks. The administration could largely wipe out that exclusion by expansively defining what constitutes being in the business of selling guns. But that happened yet. And in Obama overstep on gun control 4F 10,2016 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Benson, 6F The Iranians pay no price for defying the United States. PAGE 6F Krauthammer How to make Arizona even better this legislative session.

PAGE 5F Editorial REACH US PHIL BOAS, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, PHIL.BOAS@ARIZONAREPUBLIC.COM OPINIONS.AZCENTRAL.COM Next month marks the five-year anniversary of he Arizona Commerce Authority, a fresh, dynamic effort to turn our open for mentality into a pragmatic reality. A nniversaries are nice, but really important are the pro-business policies that kicked into place with the assage of the 2011Arizona Competitiveness legislation that created the ACA, streamlined our tax and regulatory landscape and ushered in a new era of economic development in high- growth, high-wage sectors. Lawmakers and Arizona business leaders developed a five-year plan that challenged us with aggressive goals. happy to report that the ACA is well on its way to exceeding those benchmarks of assisting in the creation of more than 75,000 quality jobs and more than $6 billion in new capital investment. nder Gov.

Doug leadership, 2015 was a year of impressive accom- KEEPING THE DOOR OPEN Arizona striving to have businesses call state home MY TURN SANDRA WATSON RICK THINKSTOCK.