21.   Contribution limits to federal parties and candidates would be indexed for inflation.

22.   Democratic leaders challenged the practice in State Supreme Court, and it was struck down last week by a judge who ruled that it exceeded legal contribution limits.

23.   Designed to reduce the role of special interests in Arizona politics, the measure provides public funding to candidates who agree to strict contribution limits.

24.   Democrats said they also worried that the increased contribution limits could prompt small businesses to abandon their pension programs.

25.   Despite voter support for contribution limits, the courts have been hostile to such restrictions, saying they limit political free speech.

26.   Direct expenditures supporting or opposing measures would be subject to the same contribution limits and reporting requirements that now apply for statewide officials.

27.   Exceeding the contribution limit is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, and the state has on occasion referred repeat corporate offenders to district attorneys.

28.   Eventually, politicians figured out that they could get around the contribution limits and the corporate ban by directing contributions to their political parties.

29.   Finance Committee Democrats, some facing tough reelection fights, worked to add education tax breaks, higher contribution limits for IRAs, and pension plans.

30.   He declared the law unconstitutional, saying it set contribution limits so low that candidates would be denied their First Amendment rights to get out their campaign messages.