Tag: Prop. 400

Arizona Free Enterprise Club Gives 17 Arizona State Politicians 100 Percent Ratings in Its 2023 Scorecard

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) issued its annual ratings of legislators this month, with four state senators and 13 state representatives receiving perfect scores. The scorecard analyzed 25 bills in the House and 30 in the Senate during the 2023 session that addressed priority issues for AFEC. Many legislators scored well since “[f]or most of the legislative session, the caucuses in the House and Senate were unified, and there was less bad policy that made it onto the floor for a vote in either chamber.”

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Arizona Legislature Sends Modified Prop. 400 Tax Increase Extension to Hobbs to Sign, Dividing Conservative Republicans

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Legislature resumed session this week to redraft a bill to extend Prop. 400 sales tax for public transportation. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed an earlier version of SB 1102 that conservative legislators supported. The new version satisfied some of the conservatives in the legislature but not all of them and was sent to Hobbs.

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) issued a lengthy statement denouncing the bill and the Republicans who supported it. AFC said the earlier version would have sent the tax increase to the voters as a referendum broke down into two questions: whether to extend the tax to pay for roads and whether to extend the tax to pay for public transportation. SB 1102 combines both into one question for voters.

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Republicans Working with Hobbs to Extend Prop. 400 Public Transportation Sales Tax

Rachel Alexander

Every few years, the Arizona Legislature works out legislation to extend the Prop. 400 public transportation tax. The half-cent tax, which started in 1985 to pay for roads but now also includes public transit and light rail in Maricopa County, faces strong opposition every time it comes up for renewal. Although the legislature mostly ended its 2023 session on June 30 after finalizing the budget, it is reconvening briefly next week to consider the extension.

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Two Tools Track Arizona Governments, Reveal Missteps and Waste

Rachel Alexander
Arizona Capitol

It is National Sunshine Week, which celebrates transparency in government, including creating awareness about requesting information from governments through FOIA public record requests. In Arizona, there are two tools provided by state agencies which allow anyone to look online at some of the government spending by state and local governments. Although it is a minimal amount of data, it reveals some missteps and waste. 

The Arizona State Treasurer manages AZCheckbook.com, which provides information about funding the state gets from all sources, including the federal government, and how much it is distributing to schools, cities, and towns. The Arizona Department of Administration operates OpenBooks.AZ.gov, which provides checkbook-level information about individual state expenditures, including on the city and county level.

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‘Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax’ Bill Likely to Pass Arizona Legislature

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club is referring to a transportation bill that is sailing through the Arizona Legislature as a “Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax.” HB 2598, with its corresponding Senate version, SB 1356, would send to the ballot a question to voters of whether to extend the Prop. 400 tax increase for transportation for another 25 years. It would increase taxes by $33 billion, allowing localities to direct the money with very few strings attached. 

AFEC said the extension “creates a big slush fund for liberal city mayors to spend on light rail, street trollies, bike paths, trails, complete streets and other undefined ‘regional programs’ and NO REQUIREMENTS that the money be spent on actual freeways or roads to relieve congestion.” 

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