Cutting up the Credit Cards: Seven Ideas to Reform the Culture of Debt

Arizona’s constitutional drafters early in the 20th century were averse to public debt and to the tendency of
government to use subsidies favor certain private interests. As a result, Arizona has a constitutional debt limit that limits
state debt to $350,000—roughly $8 million in today’s dollars. But that limit is not effective at actually limiting debt.
Today, state-level bonded indebtedness equals $13.7 billion. All levels of government in Arizona have outstanding debt
in one form or another ...