Arizona Chamber President & CEO James J. Apperson's op-ed column in the may 13th, 2005 Business Journal...
Future business leaders may view the 2005 Regular Session of the Arizona Legislature as a pivotal moment in the achievement of the business community’s political maturity and the development of a vital Arizona economy for the 21st Century.
Though this assessment is clearly premature, we believe we have established solid accomplishments in three fundamental areas that may soon fulfill these high hopes.
- Vision -- the business community boldly declared an ambitious, broad-based agenda and focused its energies on the advancement of clearly defined priorities.
- Organization -- forty-nine business organizations, including 32 chambers of commerce, representing more than 50,000 businesses joined together, and (more importantly) stayed together, in a united effort to win property tax relief.
- Execution -- in four critical policy areas, the business community began moving the great ship of state in the direction of promoting job creation, educational achievement and government accountability.
Property Tax Relief. Lowering the business real property tax assessment ratio from 25 percent to 20 percent over the next decade has boldly begun the business community’s effort to reduce the single greatest barrier to business relocation, expansion and job creation in Arizona. Unarguably the greatest legislative victory for business in this new century, the property tax relief legislation alone makes this session an unqualified success for the business community.
Litigation Reform. With the leadership of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Medical Association and dozens of business groups, Arizona has taken its first steps toward reforming the predatory lawsuit culture that raises the cost of both doing business and caring for our families. The medical malpractice reform enacted this session is a necessary first step in the larger effort to avert a crisis in access to medical care and even higher insurance costs for employers.
K-12 Accountability. The budget legislation agreed to this week includes funding for an important program (IDEAL) that creates an effective, user-friendly data system to track the quality and progress of students so all will have the tools to evaluate the quality of education in Arizona. Also, the business community can take heart in the defeat of repeated attacks on the AIMS test as a graduation requirement. This was accomplished almost single-handedly through the courageous leadership of Senate President Ken Bennett. He deserves our thanks.
Responsible Budgeting. The most underappreciated achievement for lawmakers and the governor this session is their rejection of further debt-financing to balance the state budget. Without ending borrowing, the state’s heavy accumulated debt service threatened to undermine responsible budgeting and increase the pressure to raise taxes. Also, business community-championed legislation will give lawmakers and taxpayers the ability to see exactly where and how the State of Arizona spends all of its money. Few realize that the state spends almost twice as much federal money as state general fund revenue. Tracking the money is essential to maintaining accountability and fostering responsible budgeting.
As important as these victories are to making this session historic, so too are the unity and strength demonstrated by the business community in fighting for business property tax relief.
Prior efforts at improving the business property tax situation have foundered on the rocks of divide-and-conquer tactics and the business community’s lack of discipline.
This year was different.
If next year and the next continue in this spirit, the 2005 session will be regarded as a pivotal moment where a united and confident business community directed its efforts toward advancing the Arizona economy and helping provide a better quality of life for all Arizonans.
¶ 12:46 PM 15 comments
It’s easy to point out the gross deficiencies in America’s immigration and border security system. It takes real leadership and courage to propose a bipartisan solution in this controversial area.
The Arizona Chamber is very encouraged by the introduction of this legislation and will continue to work with Arizona-based business groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the national level to support reform of our immigration and border security.
Sen. McCain and Congressmen Kolbe and Flake’s new bill includes many provisions the Arizona Chamber has recommended be included in any comprehensive immigration reform effort including improving security and border enforcement; establishing an employment eligibility confirmation system; creation of a new temporary worker program; reimbursement to states for certain health care expenses related to the treatment of undocumented immigrants; and, a process for undocumented workers to qualify for legal work status following security and background checks. ¶ 12:57 PM 1 comments
Below are recent articles about moves to impose additional state sanctions on Arizona businesses that run afoul of federal immigration laws...
- Employer sanctions removed; Bills won't sock firms with undocumented workers, Arizona Republic, Thursday, May 12, 2005
- GOP hits Napolitano on immigration issues, The Business Journal, May 11, 2005
- Last big issue is migrant hiring: Legislators consider employer crackdown, Arizona Republic, Saturday, May 7, 2005
- Penalties for hiring migrants sought: 75% of residents polled believe sanctions on companies are OK, Arizona Business Gazette, May 5, 2005
- Bill penalizes firms for hiring migrants, Arizona Republic, Wednesday, May 4, 2005
- Stiff penalties are proposed for firms that hire entrants, Arizona Daily Star, Wednesday, May 4, 2005
- GOP backs penalties for hirers of illegal immigrants, East Valley Tribune, Wednesday, May 4, 2005
- Senate backs penalties for businesses with illegal workerss, Arizona Daily Sun, Wednesday, May 4, 2005
- Businesses laud tax cut: Deal trims property levy to 20% over 10 years, Arizona Republic, Saturday, May 7, 2005
- 'Historic' budget deal reached, Arizona Republic, Friday, May 6, 2005
- Republicans strike budget deal with governor, The Business Journal, May 5, 2005
Business Priorities
Business Real Property Tax Reduction -- Commercial property tax assessment ratio reduction from 25% to 20% over 10 years
Federal Funds Reporting -- $500,000 to initiate reporting of the estimated $23 billion in Federal Funds received by executive branch agencies.
Job Training Funds -- $3.9 million restoration of job training funds
Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF) -- $1 million restoration to the WQARF fund.
Fiscal Responsibility – The $8.2 billion state budget is balanced with no borrowing and a surplus (to date) of $168 million. The surplus amount is likely to continue to grow.
Other Issues
Although not necessarily priorities of the business community there are several issues that were the basis for the compromise that brought the agreement together.
All-Day Kindergarten – The budget deal fully funds the second year of all-day kindergarten along with a longitudinal study to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
Corporate Tuition Tax Credits – The Governor agreed to sign a modified corporate tuition tax credit program that provides tax credits to businesses that contribute to private school tuition. Conservative legislators agreed to include this proposal in the budget rather than the previously pursued voucher bill. However, the voucher proposal will be sent to the Governor as a separate bill.
Phoenix Medical School – The Governor was asking for $7 million for phase one development of a downtown medical school. The Legislature agreed to $3.5 million up front with an additional $3.5 million eligible for release later in the year. This keeps the project moving forward while giving the Legislature the opportunity to collect and study the data it feels it has not received to date. ¶ 3:04 PM 1 comments
- "Carte blanche canceled; Napolitano needs to bens a bit in dealing with new Legislature," Editorial, East Valley Tribune, Page F2, Sunday, March 27, 2005
AZ Chamber VP of Communications and Fedral Affairs Farrell Quinlan is in the same issue with an op-ed on the property tax campaign. Read his op-ed here: "Arizona business property tax relief's time has come"
Quinlan is also quoted in an article about legislative efforts to remove "voter protection" from health care and education funding spending. Read the article here: "Patient No More: Proposed referendum could jeopardize $1B in federal Medicaid funds" ¶ 12:21 PM 1 comments
