Sen. Burton Cahill Statement Regarding SCR 1038

STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Sen. Meg Burton Cahill (D-Tempe), today sided against fellow Democrat Ken Cheuvront (D-Phoenix), voting against his bill to tie Legislative salaries to state employee salaries.

“Reducing legislative salaries along with state employee pay not only creates a disincentive to serve, it creates an automatic conflict for every member voting on budget cuts,” Burton Cahill said. “Moreover, legislative salaries must be high enough so that anyone can serve and still support themselves. By cutting salaries, we discourage working-class people from running, including women and minorities. This just creates a larger disconnect between lawmakers and their constituents. The gravity of the decisions we are making today require that the best and brightest from all walks of life in Arizona seek public office, and we must compensate them accordingly.”

SCR 1038, introduced by Sen. Cheuvront, would automatically reduce Legislators’ salaries if a state employee pay cut is enacted. It passed the government committee with a 5-2 vote.

Democratic Statement on STO Contribution Deadline Extension

STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – On Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee voted to extend the deadline for student tuition organizations in order for individuals to be eligible for existing income tax credits to the deadline for filing the applicable income tax return, including any extensions. This takes the date past April 15.

“We cannot keep creating loopholes to subsidize private and religious schools while proposals to cut public education still exist,” said Democratic Whip Sen. Linda Lopez.

“Especially during an economic crisis this is fiscally irresponsible,” said Sen. Paula Aboud. “We have an obligation to fund our public schools and this takes money out of the general fund.”

“We should be consistent for our state and this is not a consistent or efficient way to run our government,” said Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor.

SB 1274 passed the Education Accountability and Reform Committee by 4-3 with all three Democrats voting no.

Pay Cuts Should be Equitable

STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Sen. Ken Cheuvront introduced a ballot initiative to reduce legislator salaries when state employee salaries are reduced.

The language will be in a strike everything amendment to SCR 1038, which is also in Sen. Cheuvront’s name.

“It is important that the state legislature lives as it legislates,” said Sen. Ken Cheuvront. “If we are requiring state employees to take a pay cut, we should be expected us to tighten our belts and decrease our pay proportionally.”

When passed, the initiative will appear on the next general election ballot.

The Senate Government Institutions committee is meeting on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 10:30 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1. Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia will offer the strike-everything amendment in committee.

Statement on Tax Referral Committee Vote

STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Today, Sen. Albert Hale and Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor joined with four Republicans on the Senate Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt committee to vote for a sales tax referral to the ballot.

“We are looking for solutions to this difficult state deficit we are facing and I believe it is up to the voters to decide whether raising taxes is the path they would like to take,” said Sen. Albert Hale.

“Arizonans in my district are asking for more revenue to help address this situation," said Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor. “Voting for the referral will send this option to my district so that voters can make that choice.”

The ballot referral calls for a statewide special election on May 18, 2010, for voters to decide on a three-year temporary raise in the Transaction Privilege Tax and Use Tax. The referral stipulates that the net revenues will be devoted two-third to public primary and secondary education and one-third for health and human services and public safety purposes.

Sen. McCune Davis files bills regarding lobbyists

STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Today, Sen. Debbie McCune Davis (D-14) filed a bill penalizing dishonest lobbying practices and a second bill to require lobbyists to reveal the dollar amount of their lobbying contract.

SB 1361 suspends a lobbyist’s registration for three years if convicted of knowingly providing false information regarding legislative or administrative actions and is classified a class 1 misdemeanor.

“Lawmakers depend on lobbyists for accurate information regarding legislation. Lobbyists are paid to come to the Capitol to state facts, not for deception for clients who cannot be represented honestly,” said McCune Davis. “I hope this measure serves as a disincentive to accepting large fees from disreputable clients,” added McCune Davis.

SB 1360 requires lobbyists to disclose the amount of their lobbying contract. Other states, such as Texas, already require disclosure.

“If a lobbyist is paid by an industry to come to the legislature, the public has a right to know the weight of the influence being expended at the legislature by that industry or interest,” McCune Davis said.

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Sen. Linda Lopez Responds to AZ Daily Star Budget Questions

This is published in today's Arizona Daily Star in response to a request to southern Arizona lawmakers to answer four questions about the budget. It is located online here and pasted below.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson

Committees: Education Accountability and Reform; Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform

Education

If we are truly concerned about Arizona's economic future, education at all levels cannot suffer further cuts. Education must be considered an investment. Without a quality educational system, economic development will continue to be stagnant and the state may lose some of the businesses that are currently here. Businesses look for more than just a favorable tax structure when relocating. Without access to an educated work force a low tax structure has little to no value.

Health care

I do not support cuts to health and human services or asking voters to change eligibility for Medicaid. I support a proposal to increase the provider tax paid by insurance companies. Funds generated could be used to pay for the expansion of Medicaid supported by Arizona's voters when they passed Proposition 204. With regards to serving non-Medicaid-eligible persons with serious mental illness and support for human services I advocate equalizing the tax on alcohol with those funds dedicated to behavioral-health services, prevention services and support for the child welfare system. Beer, wine, and spirituous liquor are taxed at different rates. An adjustment has not been made in well over 30 years. This equalization could generate about $500 million annually.

Budget cuts

This state needs comprehensive sentencing reform. We need to differentiate between offenders that we fear and those who've simply made us angry. Murderers, rapists, child molesters and others we're afraid of must be locked up to protect Arizonans. Drug offenders (not big-time dealers) and others who've violated the law but who do not scare us should be treated differently. Programs such as treatment and probation are much less expensive than incarceration and much more effective at getting these folks to be productive citizens. We should review the sentences of those currently incarcerated to determine if releasing them early to these types of programs would be a better use of scarce state resources. Other states have already implemented such changes.

The budgets of the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the House of Representatives and the state Senate need to reviewed for diversion of some of their funding to other areas of state government that are much more critical. For example, the Senate Republican leadership spent over $60,000 remodeling the Republican caucus room and the Republican Appropriations Committee chair's office. That amount of money, while not huge in the scheme of things, could have been used to fund two Child Protective Services workers or some other equally important use.

We cannot reduce spending to the levels of 2004 or 2006 as this fails to recognize the increased demand on state government, i.e., more kids in schools, more people who need state help because of the economy, etc.

Revenues

In addition to the two revenue sources I suggested earlier I support expanding the sales tax to include services. Arizona's crisis demands swift, decisive action by legislators who are willing to put their own political future on the line for the sake of the future of this state!

Posted in Opinion on Saturday, January 30, 2010 12:00 am Updated: 6:00 pm.

Sen. Paula Aboud Responds to Arizona Daily Star Request

This is published in today's Arizona Daily Star in response to a request to southern Arizona lawmakers to answer four questions about the budget. It is located online here and pasted below.

Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson
Committees: Appropriations Committee (ranking Democrat); Health Committee; Education Committee; Joint Legislative Budget Committee; Joint Committee for Capitol Review; Administrative Oversight Committee

Education

When a state's economy has debt, lawmakers either propose spending cuts, generating revenue or both. It's impossible to balance Arizona's deficit today without revenue. And legislators who propose balancing the budget as though programs were numbers on a spreadsheet with no sense of consequences for the whole state are just wrong.

Our universities, our economic engine, are being squeezed by cutting when the lawmakers themselves don't have a college education. Cuts to education hurt our work force development, and cuts to all-day kindergarten hurt early development of our future work force. It's like eating your seed corn. You cannot only look at the numbers . . . you must look at the cost to the public, to our future.

Health care

Cutting Medicare recipients doesn't just balance the spreadsheet. It cuts all the health-care infrastructure of the entire state that depends upon the Medicare reimbursements to stay in business - an infrastructure that maintains hospitals and employs doctors, nurses and technicians. The loss of $382 million really costs the state nearly $3 billion in matching funds and lost revenue. That cut alone could bankrupt rural hospitals, cost the state good-paying jobs, force more foreclosures, increase debt for banks, force rural families to travel three hours to Phoenix or Tucson for medical care. Simply put, the whole state would suffer.

Budget Cuts

By cutting Medicaid spending, the governor risks Arizona's ability to qualify for the extension of federal stimulus dollars. Uninsured kids and mentally ill will flood the ERs with their medical needs, forcing hospitals to shift the unreimbursed expense to you and me with higher premiums on our health care. That's called the hidden health-care tax.

Once the public understands the concept of tax shift, you'll understand why it's imprudent to make cuts in a vacuum. Arizona is already 50th in per-pupil spending. Our education achievement ranking went down last year from 43rd to 46th place. Who is going to want to live here or to move here?

Revenues

Revenue generation is critical to the health of our state. Let both sides of the aisle come together to make the state better, not tear it down further. The following revenue ideas have been suggested by the Democrats and they can help resolve the problem without ruining our state.
A utility excise tax can generate $233 million to $500 million, taxing out-of-state corporations. A hospital-provider tax could generate $600 million. Alcohol taxation, unchanged for decades, could generate up to $300 million. Private-prison fees could net $22 million. Suspending corporate and individual tax credits, money already owed to the state but diverted away, could generate $250 million. A QTR (Qualified Tax Rate) increase could bring in $600 million. Suspending a homeowner rebate could generate $414 million. Adding Department of Revenue auditors to collect owed taxes, charging taxes to out-of-state individuals and corporations doing business in Arizona, increasing charges for freight trucks passing through the state and eliminating tax breaks on ethanol, gasohol, country club membership and simulcast dog racing are just some of the proposals we've put on the table.

Many of these ideas move our state forward, won't over-tax the citizenry, and won't decimate state services or our education system.

In answer to the Star, I propose no new cuts to the state at this time. It's time all Arizona lawmakers sit down together to choose the future course for our state.

Slashing important programs merely to balance a spreadsheet is wrong. All of us working together is a better, healthier solution for Arizona's future.

Posted in Opinion on Friday, January 29, 2010 12:00 am