by admin | Aug 18, 2023 | News and Updates, Regulatory
For years, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has been the stomping ground for the left to push its Green New Deal Agenda. In fact, it was just over two years ago when the commission quietly released its plan to impose California-style energy mandates in our state. Their goal was to ban fossil fuels and require most electricity companies to provide “clean” energy by 2050. Thankfully, the commission voted down these energy mandates in January 2022. But that hasn’t stopped the left from trying to find other ways to exploit the ACC.
One of their latest efforts has centered on Tucson, where they tried to push Prop 412 to create a taxpayer slush fund for Green New Deal pet projects. After a concerted effort to fight back with facts and inform the people of Tuson about what Prop 412 would mean for them, it was defeated. But the left wasn’t done yet.
As part of its Green New Deal agenda, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) also asked the ACC for rate hikes to subsidize electric vehicles (EV) that strain the grid and increase the risk of blackouts. TEP has been offering owners of electric vehicles (and them only) special, low electricity rates. They also give EV owners an additional five percent reduction for certain surcharges, just for owning an EV. These artificially low rates are to encourage EV owners to charge their cars overnight because TEP worries that charging during the day will crash the grid and cause blackouts.
This is not only unreasonable, but it’s unfair. Non-EV owners should never be forced to subsidize the cost of EVs or pay for incentives that attempt to protect the grid from the strain EVs put on it.
That’s why Commissioner Nick Myers proposed several amendments to the proposed rate hike to roll back subsidies for EVs. And the Free Enterprise Club helped lead the charge to get several TEP customers to email and show up at the commission hearing to oppose the EV subsidies.
While TEP did end up getting a rate hike, eight amendments from Commissioner Myers were adopted, resulting in a reduced rate increase for TEP customers. Among the amendments adopted were:
-
- An elimination of the unfair subsidy benefiting EV owners.
- A requirement to refund customers any unused Demand-Side Management Surcharge funds remaining after December 31, 2023.
- A modification of TEP’s rate plans to encourage off-peak vehicle charging.
Because of these efforts, the estimated bill increase for TEP customers will be lower than originally proposed. And that’s a big win for ratepayers. After all, if someone wants to own an electric vehicle, it is within their right to do so. But EV owners should be the ones responsible for paying for the costs associated with the necessary infrastructure improvements. And they certainly should be paying for any excessive demand placed on the grid—not getting discounted rates.
Now, ratepayers in Tucson will have a little less money taken from their wallets, and this victory is another example of why it’s so important to stay informed, get involved, and fight back.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jul 27, 2023 | Misc, News and Updates
How much do you like to walk in 110-degree heat? If you’re a resident of the city of Phoenix, you may need to start getting used to it if the city council gets its way.
A proposed ordinance in Phoenix is looking to significantly reduce the minimum number of parking spaces it requires for apartments. Currently, Phoenix requires a minimum of 150 parking spaces for every 100 one or two-bedroom apartments. Under the proposed ordinance, that number would decrease to 125 spaces. But that’s not the end of it. For new affordable apartment complexes near light rail stations, the requirement for most would be reduced to zero! Yes. Zero parking spaces at an apartment complex. Have you caught on to their agenda yet?
If you’ve been keeping score, you already know that—in just this year—climate change zealots have been seeking to prohibit gas stoves; put limits on things like lawn and garden equipment, motorized boating, and water heaters; and ban the internal combustion engine. Now, this latest attempt to reduce parking spaces makes it clear. They want to force you out of your air-conditioned car to walk in 110-degree heat with your reward being to wait for a bus or light rail—all the while hoping that you don’t develop heat stroke. Then, once you’re riding on whatever form of public transit you’ve been forced to use, you get to hope that you won’t be assaulted or victimized on a system of transportation that’s seeing an increase in crime. Finally, you’ll get off said public transit and be rewarded with yet another long walk in 110-degree heat. (But at least it’s on Phoenix’s “cool” pavement. Oh wait. It turns out, that’s making people feel even hotter.)
Remember when they said, “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy”? They’re certainly doing everything they can to make the first part a reality. But there isn’t a soul in Phoenix who would be happy walking around the city during an afternoon in July.
All this nonsense is aimed at their agenda to turn Phoenix into a 15-minute city, and they’re not even trying to hide it anymore. Case in point, meet Phoenix’s Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari who recently took to Twitter to hype the proposed ordinance and the 15-minute city concept—where cars will be phased out and everything you need will supposedly be available by foot, bike, or public transit. Of course, if Ms. Ansari is so passionate about Phoenix becoming a 15-minute city, perhaps she’d be willing to lead by example. Why doesn’t she give up her car, walk to the bus stop every day in 110-degree heat, and ride the public transit that she believes is so safe?
But she won’t. And none of the liberal elites pushing this plan will either. They will continue to use their own car and park in their premium parking spots while all of us regular folks are left to deal with these outrageous policies.
They hate how we live and how we get around, and now they want to make us miserable until we surrender to their climate change agenda. But with the proposed parking plan up for a vote sometime in September, there’s still time to fight back. Stay informed. Build a passionate argument based on facts. And make your voice heard. Tucson residents recently defeated a similar attempt to create a 15-minute city by voting down Prop 412. Now, Phoenix should follow their lead.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Dec 8, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates
The public school system in Arizona is a complete mess. But during the past few years, it really hit a new low.
Attempts to indoctrinate children with Critical Race Theory and radical gender theory have been spreading throughout our public school districts. COVID shutdowns have wreaked havoc on students’ education—especially low-income parents and children. In the meantime, public school spending surged during COVID while teacher pay didn’t keep pace. But that didn’t stop failed teachers’ unions like Red4ED from trying to use the “low teacher pay” narrative in their attempts to push more ridiculous tax increases on taxpayers like you.
Of course, all of this is only more infuriating when you consider that the majority of Arizona students continue to fail the statewide assessment. And ACT scores for Arizona students have fallen below the standards for our state universities. That’s why the Club made it a priority to drain the public school swamp in this past November’s election.
19 Club-Endorsed Candidates Won School Board Seats
Defeating the Left isn’t just about winning statewide races. If we are ever going to stop the radical woke agenda, local school board races are critical. Altogether, the Club endorsed 28 different candidates for school boards throughout the state, and 19 of them won a seat. When you consider that school boards have been overrun by leftist activists for years, this is a huge victory, especially in a city like Scottsdale.
Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) has been one of the worst offenders when it comes indoctrinating children with gender identity ideology. SUSD allows and even encourages students to replace their “deadname”—the birth name that individuals reject upon transitioning genders—with their preferred name on their school ID. On top of that, one Scottsdale principal required middle school teachers to attend grooming training without facing any accountability from the school board. Another Scottsdale teacher pushed radical sex theories that were not approved by the district. And the district also went on to promote a “Drag Queen Story Hour.”
But in this past November’s election, Club-endorsed candidates Amy Carney and Carine Werner won the two available seats to serve on the Scottsdale School Board. Both these moms have made it a commitment to root out controversial indoctrination programs and refocus the district on strengthening students in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. And they will serve as a crucial voice for parents throughout the city.
Tom Horne Will Replace Union Darling Kathy Hoffman as Superintendent
Along with the great success in local school board races, Republican Tom Horne triumphed over Kathy Hoffman in the race for Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. Tom served in this same position from 2003 to 2011, and now he will make it a priority to stop indoctrination like Critical Race Theory, fight back against cancel culture, and improve student performance.
In addition, Tom has been a strong advocate for school choice and empowering parents—which stands in stark contrast to current Superintendent Kathy Hoffman. Kathy was a vocal opponent of the state’s recent law that expands Empower Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to all K-12 students. And she supported the failed Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ) ballot initiative that sought to stop universal school choice. Hoffman was everything the radical left and K-12 spending lobby wanted in a candidate, and she lost.
Tom hasn’t wasted any time getting to work as our top education official. He has already appointed Christine Accurso, who led the Decline to Sign movement to stop SOSAZ’s ballot initiative, to be the Executive Director of the ESA division of the Department of Education. This was a critical hire given the bureaucratic roadblocks erected against the ESA program by the Hoffman regime.
Fixing the management and application process for the ESA program is an important step, but it’s just the beginning. Arizona’s public education system needs a significant overhaul, and the people of Arizona know it. Now, Tom Horne and the newly elected conservative board members need to get to work making that happen. And the GOP needs to build upon the momentum it created in winning the education debate.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Apr 21, 2021 | News and Updates, Tax
The Arizona state General Fund is flooded with revenue. Latest projections show the state with $1.2 billion in ongoing revenue and a cash balance upwards of $6.5 billion in FY2024. This is by far the largest budget surplus in state history and doesn’t even include the $1 Billion stashed away in the rainy day fund.
When the state is sitting on a pile of cash this big, it means one thing: they are taking too much of your money. And the answer is simple—give it back to taxpayers.
With Republicans at the Legislature and Governor Ducey planning to provide a large and comprehensive tax cut, one special interest group is already lobbying hard behind the scenes to kill that plan: local cities.
The fight of course is over money. 15 percent of income tax revenues are shared with cities. In Phoenix, that accounts for just over $241 million this year, or roughly 4.8 percent of their $5 billion operating budget. Phoenix is arguing that the proposed income tax cut would result in a $65 million reduction in shared revenues; or 1.3 percent of their operating budget.
Of course, this estimated “cut” in revenue is seriously flawed. It fails to take into account that shared revenues from the income tax are based on collections from two years prior. Considering the tax package wouldn’t be fully implemented for another 4-5 years, any potential decrease in shared revenues would not be fully realized for at least 6-7.
Additionally, complaints about static reductions in revenue fail to include any dynamic analysis of economic growth and the corresponding increases in tax revenues—both from income and TPT collections—promulgated by tax cuts.
The passage of Prop 208 made Arizona the 9th highest income tax rate in the nation. It has already begun pushing small businesses to relocate to lower tax states—taking their jobs and income, property, and TPT tax revenues with them. Make no mistake, the loss in revenue for cities such as Phoenix will be much larger if no action is taken to address Arizona’s uncompetitive income tax climate. In fact, a study by the Goldwater Institute found that the Prop 208 price tag to state and local revenues will amount to a $2.4 billion loss.
Knowing that a debate over a potential 1.3% reduction in revenues 7 years from now won’t generate much sympathy to stop the tax package, the city of Phoenix has decided to tell lawmakers that if the legislature cuts your income taxes, cities will be forced to cut police officers on the street. In other words, legislative tax cuts would be responsible for “defunding the police.”
This rhetoric can’t be described as anything other than complete hogwash.
Here is the real bottom line: The City of Phoenix is downright reckless with taxpayer money. The city spends like drunken sailors. They’ve never seen a tax increase they don’t like. And they don’t think twice about fleecing the taxpayer every opportunity they get.
In 2015, Phoenix raised their transportation excise tax in order to waste billions on boondoggles like light rail. They have spent billions on a “Sky Train” hardly anyone uses and then jacked up fees by 200 percent on ride sharers to pay for it.
In 2017, Phoenix’s spending appetite was so colossal they extended the amortization of their pension debt, to free up a few million dollars for one time spending at the cost of billions to taxpayers down the road.
For years Phoenix ran a hotel that never managed to make a profit. In 2017 they finally shed the asset, but not before a staggering $200 Million loss to taxpayers.
All this reckless spending has forced the city to constantly raise taxes and fees. Just last month, Phoenix approved raising their water rates for the 5th time in 6 years on top of rate increases for trash and recycling.
On top of these tax and rate increases, research done by the Arizona Tax Research Association shows the city has also received over $24.6 million year to date in FY2021 (with four additional months of collections to go) from remote sellers. This is new revenue to the city due to the passage of 2019 Wayfair legislation. If these new monies were scored, that 1.3 percent revenue loss would actually be a potential 0.8% reduction realized in 6-7 years, a fraction of the money Phoenix has wasted in just the past couple years.
With tax increase after tax increase and revenue windfalls from the state, the city of Phoenix does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The legislature providing relief to taxpayers (who will surely be more responsible with their own money than Phoenix will be) will not cause any city to “defund the police.”
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Apr 30, 2018 | Uncategorized
Four months have passed since the enactment of federal tax reform, and Arizona workers and taxpayers continue to be rewarded with new raises, bonuses and expanded benefits. As of April 30th, over $215 Million dollars has now been put back into the pockets of Arizona workers and ratepayers as a result of federal tax reform.
Here is a list of Arizona companies that have rewarded employees with additional pay and benefits:
- American and Southwest Airlines announced $1,000 bonuses for their nearly 15,000 employees in celebration of the GOP tax plan.
- CEO Bob Parsons handed out $1.3 million in bonuses to his 725 employees at YAM Worlwide.
- AT&T and Comcast provided $1,000 bonuses to hundreds in their Arizona workforce.
- Bank of America will be giving $1,000 bonuses to their 10,000 Arizona employees that make up to $150,000 in total compensation.
- Boeing has committed to $300 million to charitable investments, workforce training and infrastructure improvements benefiting their 3,600 Arizona employees.
- Nationwide announced $1,000 bonuses and an increase of their 401(k)-matching contribution for their 1,900 Arizona employees.
- Wells Fargo, with over 15,000 Arizona employees, announced the establishment of a $15 minimum wage, $400 million in charitable donations and $100 million in additional capital investment.
- Wal-Mart has committed to providing their 35,000 Arizona employees a guaranteed minimum wage of $11/hour and bonuses up to $1,000.
- APS announced that they intent to slash $119 Million from their utility rates, which would save the average homeowner $56 each year.
- Verizon will provide 50 shares of restricted stock (valued at $53/share) to their 2,800 Arizona employees, a total value exceeding $7 Million dollars.
- JP Morgan Chase will be giving a $750 bonus to their 10,000 Arizona employees and raise starting wages from $15 to $18 an hour.
- Waste Management, Inc. is providing $2,000 bonuses to nearly 2,000 Arizona Employees that do not participate in a sales incentive or bonus plan.
- Meridian Bank increased their base wage to $15/hour, increased charitable contributions and capital spending and added 20% to existing bonuses.
- Comerica Bank will provide $1,000 bonuses to their 100+ Arizona non-officer employees and raised their base wage to $15/hour.
- Home Depot announced bonuses up to $1,000 for its 10,000 Arizona employees
- Western Alliance provided bonuses, pay raises and an increase in their 401(k)-matching contribution for their 700 Arizona employees.
- Washington Federal, which has nearly 200 Arizona employees, has committed to 5% merit increases for employees making less than $100k and an substantial increase of training programs for their workers.
- Starbucks announced pay raises, expanded benefits and company stock (valued at $500 for shop workers, $2,000 for managers) to their 4,000 Arizona employees.
- FedEx, with 3,700 Arizona employees, will be giving bonuses, pay raises and a voluntary $1.5 Billion contribution to their company pension plan.
- Honeywell has committed to boosting their 401(k)-match for its 8,000 Arizona employees.
- U-Haul will be providing bonuses ranging from $500 to $1,200 for their 3,800 employees.
- Lowe’s has committed to providing their 4,000 Arizona employees bonuses up to $1,000, expanded benefits and maternity leave and $5,000 in adoption assistance.
- Chipotle is providing bonuses ranging from $250 to $1,000 for their Arizona employees
- McDonald’s announced a tuition assistance program for their 16,000 Arizona Employees ranging from $2,500 to $3,000.
- Cox Communications, with over 3,200 Arizona Employees, will be receiving bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $2,000.
In total, over 125,000 Arizona workers are on the receiving end of bonuses, pay raises and other benefits thanks to the business tax cuts. Combined with the individual income tax reductions that will show up on paychecks next month, the direct financial benefit for Arizona taxpayers as a result of tax reform will be over $1 Billion dollars in 2018.
The Club will continue to expand the list of AZ companies rewarding their employees with bonuses, pay raises and benefits. If you know of a company not on the list, please email info@azfree.org so that the Club can include the good news on our tax cut victory tally.
Recent Comments