Rank-and-file firefighters need to reject the big-government agenda promoted in their name by the likes of Tom Hill and his union racket group, Professional Firefighters of Arizona. PFA's pro-Prop 100 ad features the same boogeyman theme that is pulled out in every election in which a tax increase is pushed by the big spenders: first responders are going to have their budgets cut. But as reporter Dennis Welch of the Arizona Guardian writes in this column, state budget cuts are very unlikely to affect local public safety if Prop 100 (aka the Brewer Tax) is shot down by voters on the May 18 ballot:

Alarmist Prop 100 ad doesn't hold up

Wednesday, 24 March 2010 13:56
By Dennis Welch
The Arizona Guardian

The Yes on 100 campaign unveiled a dramatic advertisement this week warning that emergency rescue services will be cut and Arizonans could die if voters reject a 1-cent sales tax increase.

But the facts don’t back that up. Contrary to the ad posted on the campaign’s website, the outcome of the May 18 special election will have no direct impact on the cities and towns that pay for fire services.

Yet the ad ties the fate of Proposition 100 to public safety and the ability of first responders to reach victims in life-threatening emergencies. It even goes as far to say people could die if voters kill the tax.

The 90-second spot, backed with ominous music and featuring flaming close-ups, uses phrases like "unsavable" and "brain death" to persuade voters to support the measure.

YES on 100 CAMPAIGN AD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLVVpfSnoyI

Tim Hill, president of the Professional Firefighters of Arizona, says in the ad that firefighters are already "stretched."

He explains that victims trapped inside a burning building for more than six to eight minutes could mean “it is no longer possible to save them.”

The commercial goes on to say that if voters reject Proposition 100 the state will make another $1 billion in additional budget cuts "that will be felt in neighborhoods and by our first responders."

If voters approve the three-year sales tax increase, municipalities are not in line to get any of the estimated $3 billion in estimated revenues -- meaning fire departments won’t see a direct financial benefits.

Two-thirds of the additional tax revenue will go to K-12 education with the rest split up among health and human services and public safety such as prisons, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Arizona Legislative Council.

State lawmakers passed a budget last week that triggers another $862 million in cuts should the ballot measure fail. Most of those cuts would come from K-12 and higher education. The rest comes from other state agencies, including health and human services.

Hill did not return phone calls. But in a prepared statement released on Monday he reiterated the ad's claim that first responders will be hurt if the tax fails.

“The Professional Firefighters of Arizona stand solidly behind YES ON 100,” he said. “If this proposition fails on May 18th, our quality of life will suffer, our neighborhoods will suffer and those on the front lines will have fewer resources. We can’t let that happen.”

His organization has closely aligned itself with pro-Prop 100 forces. Besides appearing in the ads, the firefighters union donated $100,000 to Yes on 100, according the Secretary of State’s Office.

David Leibowitz, spokesman for Yes on 100, defended the ad's accuracy, saying a loss at the ballot could eventually affect fire departments. He said lawmakers will go after state shared revenues -- money appropriated to municipalities from the state – if the tax fails and the state is forced to make more cuts.

The GOP-controlled Legislature has attempted in recent years to get that money, which runs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Lawmakers have successfully raided any available sources of money during the past year as the cash-strapped state has been dealing with multi-billion dollar deficits.

Ken Strobeck, the executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, says state shared revenues are safe, for now.

But, he said, that could change if the tax fails. Strobeck said it would be difficult for lawmakers to go after state shared revenues again, however, because it would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. The Legislature has had trouble getting a simple majority for controversial proposals.