As usual, bad ideas at the legislature just don’t seem to die. For the third year in a row, lawmakers have introduced legislation to bring back the Angel Investment Tax Credit Program (a.k.a. Shark Tank Bill), a scheme designed to subsidize risky venture capital...

Last month the Club shared how Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a tool used by local governments and city planners to subsidize projects that benefit politically connected developers and landowners. That is not the only problem with this financing scheme: TIFs are...

Examining the results of the November elections, it was a mixed bag for Arizona taxpayers. Specifically, there was a lot of debate surrounding the numerous bonds and override requests being pursued by school districts, the most controversial of which being spending...

Everyone knows that when government gets into the economic development business and starts handing out targeted incentives, they will do everything they can to pad their statistics to justify the subsidies. One example of this type of gamesmanship occurred after the...

Many ordinary citizens in Arizona are engaged in illegal activity that is a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable up to $2,500 and imprisonment up to six months.  Each day they are in violation is considered a separate offense.  Hypothetically, a week of this action could...

The City of Tempe is exploring joining the ranks of San Francisco, Seattle and New York City in mandating businesses located in town to provide paid sick leave for employees.  Although no formal drafts have been presented of such an ordinance, the council reviewed the...