The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity thanks those members of the Arizona Legislature who have (so far) resisted Gov. Jan Brewer’s efforts to raise sales and property taxes to deal with the Napolitano Deficit, which was caused by rampant overspending during the past six years.

Although the House-Senate budget that passed on June 4 is not without flaws, and although it falls short of achieving a true structural balance in the FY2010 budget, it is less unbalanced than the alternatives, and avoids the catastrophic error of raising sales and property taxes during a recession.

Back in January, AFP Arizona set forth a Reform Arizona Plan to reduce the state’s gigantic deficit, prevent tax increases, avoid taking on debt that will hurt future taxpayers, and implement reforms to bring government spending under control for the long term. AFP Arizona incorporated the elements of the Reform Arizona Plan into its 2009 Legislative Scorecard rubric, and set a high bar for achievement by the new Legislative leadership and the new Governor.

Thus far, a majority of legislators has achieved significant policy victories and implemented key elements of the Reform Arizona Plan:

• made significant general fund spending cuts totaling over $1 billion for FYs 09 and 10;

• referred to the 2010 ballot a proposition that would lower the state’s existing spending limit to 6.4 percent of personal income (the current limit of 7.41 percent is too high to put meaningful restraints on spending);

• resisted (so far) the efforts of Gov. Brewer to raise sales and property taxes;

• passed an education tax credit for special-needs children; and,

• referred to the 2010 ballot the Health Care Freedom Act, a proposition which would prevent governments in Arizona from interfering with the relationship between patients and the doctors and/or health plans of their choice.

Several key bills are still in play as we approach the final week of the Session:

• transparency reform for local government, which would require cities, counties and school districts to post on the internet the amounts and vendors for all disbursements;

• legislation that would require the Arizona Treasurer to certify whether the state budgets are in legal compliance with the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget and with the state’s constitutional spending limit;

• legislation allowing workers to contribute to private-school scholarships through their withholding, which would make it easier for them to contribute and qualify for the STO tax credit;

• legislation allowing private companies to finance, construct, operate and maintain new road capacity; and,

• labor reforms that would preserve a worker’s right to a private ballot, and protect workers from having their union dues support political causes with which they do not agree.

One important reform that got held up in the House Banking and Insurance Committee this spring was a bill that would allow Arizona consumers to have access to cheaper insurance plans available in other states. Making private health insurance more affordable through interstate competition and commerce will help to keep the working poor out of government-subsidized health plans such as AHCCCS (Medicaid).

Here is the updated scoring template for AFP Arizona’s 2009 Legislative Scorecard:

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/files/raptemplate6-24-9.pdf

If they can hold the line against tax hikes, the majority legislators should end up as Champions of the Taxpayer on AFP Arizona’s 2009 Legislative Scorecard. We have projected their scores in this table (“Legislator X”):

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/files/raplegx6-24-9.pdf

Legislators who vote to refer a sales tax increase to the ballot and raise property taxes could find themselves designated as Friends of Big Government (see “Legislator Y”):

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/files/raplegy6-24-9.pdf

The designations for the 2009 AFP Arizona Legislative Scorecard will be as follows:

90-100% = Hero of the Taxpayer
80-89% = Champion of the Taxpayer
70-79% = Friend of the Taxpayer
60-69% = Adequate
50-59% = Needs Improvement
30-49% = Friend of Big Government
10-29% = Champion of Big Government
0-9% = Hero of Big Government

For Liberty,

--Tom

Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
(Arizona Federation of Taxpayers)
www.aztaxpayers.org
tjenney@afphq.org
(602) 478-0146