NEWS UPDATES
Home Based Business Owners Share Regulatory Nightmares
A transforming economy, technological innovation and changes in the workplace have led to an explosion of home based businesses in Arizona. The growth in home based businesses (HBB) and telecommuting has been so pronounced that it is now estimated that 24% of workers...
Our Turn: Phoenix canceled Christmas because a guy handed out cocoa
Today, the Arizona Republic published an op-ed written by Christina Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute and Scot Mussi of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club about the recent decision by Phoenix bureaucrats to shut down a Christmas light display. It is a classic example...
Media Credibility Takes Another Hit with False Ducey Pay Raise Story
In what has to be one of the biggest fake news stories of the year, the local media has decided to target the Ducey administration for pay raises that were provided to members of his staff. According the Arizona Republic, since 2015 Governor Ducey has went on a wild...
2017 Free Market Champion Award Winners Announced
Phoenix, AZ – The Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced today the 2017 Free Market Champion Award recipients. The Free Market Champion Award is given to members of the Legislature that demonstrate leadership and a commitment to free market, pro-growth policies in...
Free Enterprise Club Releases Policy Paper on Kansas Tax Experiment
Today the Arizona Free Enterprise Club released a comprehensive study of the Kansas tax reform experiment, reviewing many of the claims made by opponents of the 2012 tax cuts to determine their accuracy and applicability to income tax reform. Titled “The Kansas Tax...
Phoenix Sheraton Hotel Sale a Terrible Deal for Taxpayers
It is hardly debatable that Phoenix’s decision to get into the hotel business nearly a decade ago has been a costly mistake for taxpayers. Since opening, the city-owned Sheraton has sustained millions in operating losses and does not anticipate being a profitable...
Tucson Pre-School Education Initiative Destined to Fail
For Tucson voters, seeing another tax increase on the November ballot probably doesn’t come as a shock. Yet the latest big government spending plan is especially bizarre: a ½ cent sales tax increase to fund a city-wide preschool program. The audacity and complexity of...
Litigation Imminent Against Flawed $640 Million Pinal Transportation Plan
Pinal County was notified yesterday by a non-profit watchdog organization that Proposition 417, the proposed $640 Million Transportation tax increase scheduled for the November election, was not lawfully drafted and will likely face litigation in court. In their...
How Government Stifles Home-Based Businesses
A lot has changed in the economy over the past several decades with the explosion of technology. The traditional work environment has transformed with more individuals able to stay connected and work from nearly anywhere in the world. This evolution has made it...
Arizona Commerce Authority Subverts Legislature, Uses Tax Dollars to Fund Hollywood Film Office
Over the last several years, lobbyists for the movie industry have made multiple attempts to bring back special tax breaks for Hollywood studios in Arizona. After failing to resurrect the unpopular tax credit program that expired in 2010, they pivoted to a new...
Pinal County Voters Should Reject $640 Million Sales Tax Increase
Since 1987, Pinal County taxpayers have paid a dedicated ½ cent sales tax to build transportation improvements in the region. More than $350 million dollars later the results have been a failure. Now the County Board of Supervisors and Regional Transportation...
Cities Scramble for Life Boats as Pension Plans Continue to Tank
It has been known for over a decade now – the State’s pension system is a sinking ship. Despite efforts in recent years by the Legislature to bail as much water out of the vessel as possible; it would seem the system has been doomed by the Bermuda Triangle of forces:...
