by admin | Jul 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
In case you missed it, be sure to check out my op-ed in the Arizona Capitol Times in which I argue that Prop 104 is designed to benefit insiders at taxpayers’ expense. In addition to fact that over 90% of the funding goes toward light rail and buses (less than 8% to streets), the initiative is so poorly written that it is essentially a blank check for City Hall.
Phoenix can ill afford this multi-billion dollar tax increase. If Prop 104 passes (nearly doubling the transportation sales tax rate), Phoenix will have one of the highest sales tax rates in the region:
And now, as was reported in the Arizona Republic last week, an array of large companies that stand to financially benefit from the initiative are pouring big money into the YES campaign.
Higher taxes, no accountability, and a poorly drafted plan designed to benefit a few politically connected insiders. That is all you need to know about Prop 104.
by admin | Jul 9, 2015 | Uncategorized
Watching Greece teeter on the verge on economic collapse may feel like they are staring into the future. After all, the debt crisis was precipitated by the left wing Greek government promising its citizens outlandish benefits without cost or consequences. Now those false promises are colliding with reality.
Here in Arizona, we are just a few years removed from the President proclaiming that his health care plan would save families $2500 a year, and that if you liked your health care plan, you could keep it. Democrats even boldly named the law the “Affordable Care Act.” Unfortunately, reality is starting to set in.
Arizonans and small businesses will now see rate hikes as high as 27% next year. And we’re the lucky ones. Oregon’s Insurance Commissioner just approved rate hikes as high as 38% a few days ago, while residents of Minnesota and New Mexico could see their rates jump by over 50%. And this is just the beginning. With underwriting essentially a thing of the past, and costs of health care continuing to skyrocket, double digit rate increases are the only certainty surrounding Obamacare in the years to come.
Health insurance companies know this all too well. That’s why you are seeing so many mergers take place across the industry. Not just blockbuster mergers like Aetna and Humana, but also countless smaller insurers, as Jake Novak points out, in order to better absorb the staggering costs. Also, with less competition, and fewer choices for consumers, rate hikes become easier to push year after year – especially as the IRS “penalty” for being uninsured becomes more and more draconian.
This is also pushing more people onto Medicaid at a staggering rate, more than any state government can either afford or manage in the near future.
This is government run health care. This is our future if we don’t fight to change it. Massive taxes, staggering amounts of debt, and skyrocketing health care costs and premiums on a middle class that is further pushed to the brink.
Just ask the Greeks.
by admin | Jun 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
Normally when the government hands out special deals and subsidies to businesses, part of the difficulty in defeating these proposals is that it is far easier (and politically rewarding) to showcase the winners than it is to identify the losers. Not this time.
Last week, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport’s board of directors announced that they wanted to get into the route-making business. Believing that the airport needed to add flights to San Diego and Salt Lake City, the board has offered an package of special incentives (no terminal fees for 6 months and funding for an extensive marketing campaign) in exchange for creating these routes. The airport even offered to pay $7,000 for every flight the airline couldn’t fill, essentially guaranteeing the profitability of these routes.
Allegiant Air, which has flown over 3 million passengers out of Gateway in the last 8 years, didn’t want to add a route just 50 miles from their popular Provo/Orem destination in Utah and refused the offer. Their competitor, Elite Airways, which has only seven planes at the airport and is struggling to compete with Allegiant, gladly accepted the money.
As a result, Allegiant Air, which almost single-handedly kept Gateway afloat during the Gaylord Hotel debacle and other growing pains, is now in discussions with Sky Harbor to move and take their 243 employees with them. Sky Harbor may have more competition, they reason, but at least that competition isn’t subsidized.
So in order to get two new routes that were not in demand (presumably because no passengers wanted it), Phoenix Mesa Gateway’s board of directors is willing to let their primary carrier and top employer walk out the door.
If you live in the Mesa or Queen Creek area, the next Board of Director’s meeting isn’t until July 21st, so there is still time to make your voice heard and save Phoenix Mesa Gateway from itself. In the meantime, if you’re thinking of taking a vacation you can still book a flight with Allegiant, or you can do what most people do when traveling from Phoenix to San Diego:
Drive.
by admin | May 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
On May 15th, the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club organized a highly informative breakfast forum, led by two brilliant economists: Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski. The topic was one you will be hearing a lot more about in the coming months as Gov. Doug Ducey considers ways to reform government and drive the economy: Reducing and potentially eliminating the state income tax.
As numerous studies and books have shown, the income tax stifles economic growth and disproportionately hurts small businesses – particularly “pass-through” entities like sole proprietorships, partnerships or LLCs. Moreover, the tax code has become a lobbyist and special interest feeding frenzy, as special carve-outs and tax credits for everything from Hollywood studios to rooftop solar have become the norm.
Yet reforming our tax system to eliminate the income tax has always been derided by the left and the media as too radical, or worse. They ignore the competitive advantage Arizona would gain over states like California, vying for companies and jobs to relocate. Not to mention the economic boom that would result in lifting a heavy burden from the small businesses that provide jobs for 97% of the workforce.
But now that Gov. Ducey has shown real leadership in not only calling attention to the need for tax reform, but also publicly considering eliminating the income tax as an option, the issue has newfound importance and is getting a second look.
Towards this end, Mr. Slivinski has published a terrific policy report on exactly how Arizona can transition away from the income tax, towards a more economic friendly tax model – one that doesn’t subject the General Fund to huge swings in projected revenue. He lists five options, from eliminating it immediately to an 8-year phase down – that discusses all the benefits, drawbacks and challenges in doing so.
I not only highly recommend it, I hope you forward it on to your representatives in the Legislature, and onto the Ducey Administration as well.
The full report can be found here.
by admin | May 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has fought for years against crony capitalism and corporate welfare in Arizona. In our fight against special deals, one of our main targets has been the creation of a tax credit program for Hollywood filmmakers to make movies. In his My Turn column in the AZ Republic (“New Mexico keeps taking our movies. Let’s fix that“), Alberto Guitier III of the Arizona Film and Media Coalition contends that Arizona needs House Bill 2621 to compete with other states, and without the movie production credits we are missing out on the jobs and revenue that come along with it.
If this idea sounds familiar, it’s because Arizona already tried doing a film subsidy program back in 2005.The program lasted five years, and ended up costing taxpayers millions while providing little benefit. In just the last year of the program, the Arizona Department of Commerce calculated that taxpayers shelled out over $2.6 million in tax credits to moviemakers, while only generating $600,000 in tax revenue for the state.
It created no real permanent jobs, and the temporary jobs it did create were low paying. Fortunately, when the credits were up for renewal in 2010, the Arizona Legislature took a pass on extending the program.
Arizona is not alone in getting ripped off by the movie tax credit gambit. Multiple nonpartisan studies and independent reports that have reviewed similar programs have found that movie tax credits cost states revenue and only shift jobs to different locations throughout the country.
That is why several states, including North Carolina, Massachusetts and Michigan are currently revisiting or have scaled back their tax credit programs. Even Louisiana, which has one of the largest incentive programs in the nation and is referred to as ‘Hollywood South’, acknowledged in their performance audit that the program cost taxpayers $170 million in 2012.
The other claim made in favor of film incentives is that we are letting other states steal the movie business from Arizona.The inherent problem with this logic is when we try to “compete” with other states by giving away more taxpayer money to filmmakers the only winners end up being Hollywood studios. By pitting states against one another, film companies have been very successful in convincing lawmakers that they must increase the amount of their subsidy packages or otherwise risk losing the industry to another state.Even California has set up a very lucrative tax credit program, which should be a clue that this is an incentive game Arizona cannot win.
The reality is that this isn’t about jobs or competing with other states, but whether or not the government should be in the business of picking winners and losers through our tax code. Taking money from one taxpayer to provide special perks to another is costly, benefits a few well connected industries and only encourages other businesses to pursue the same sweetheart deals. The best tax system for Arizona is one that treats all businesses and taxpayers the same, not one that plays favorites.
by admin | Apr 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
Last session, there was a vigorous debate at the Capitol regarding HB 2011, legislation that would have greatly expanded the venture capital tax credit program in Arizona. Proponents for the “Shark Tank” tax credit claimed that the credits were needed because of a lack of access to venture capital funds in Arizona.
The Club has argued for years that this is not true and that venture capital is available for good ideas. Now after some investigation into the subject, the Phoenix Business Journal has reached the same conclusion. Namely, the problem is not a lack of funding, but rather a perceived lack of good opportunities for investment. Providing tax credits doesn’t solve this problem, it only creates a new one by picking winners and losers among entrepreneurs and investors.
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