Related articles:

Home-buy warranty initiative challengedJudge considers effort to block Ariz. home warranty initiative

Other articles by Howard Fischer:

Failed legislative bill leaves public-financed campaigns in doubtBurns: Brewer bungling her job House approves boost in funding for those seeking office next year 3 recommended to Brewer to fill seat on high court AZ can enact own greenhouse gas regsRecession reins in sprawl Pet bills aplenty pouring forth from Legislature Brewer wants budget right away, but not those other, lesser bills Flat-tax plan could hit walletsRepeal of ban on sparklers nears final OK

Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps

PHOENIX — The state's high court will decide whether voters get a chance to require home builders to provide a warranty.

In an order Friday, the Arizona Supreme Court said it wants briefs from both sides by the end of the day Tuesday on the question of whether Proposition 201 meets legal requirements to be on the ballot.

The order does not set a date for a decision. But lawyers have informed the justices that the counties need to know before the end of the month — when they are scheduled to start printing pamphlets which describe each of the November ballot measures.

The state's two home-builder associations say that the initiative wording is legally flawed.

Attorney Lisa Hauser contends that state law requires the language to point out what changes are being proposed by putting the new provisions in capital letters. She said that helps people decide whether to sign the attached petitions to put a measure on the ballot.

She said — and initiative backers have conceded — that was not done in all cases here. But Hauser lost the first round of that fight when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers ruled earlier this week that the error was legally harmless.

Myers also rebuffed Hauser's argument that the initiative, being pushed by the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, lacks the required formal title. And she had no better luck arguing that the 100-word summary, which the law requires be printed on the petitions themselves, did not sufficiently describe the changes being proposed.

The main provision of Proposition 201 would require home builders to provide a 10-year warranty on new homes.

Current law contains no such requirement. Instead, it gives homeowners up to eight years from the date of construction to sue over alleged defects.