In the June 26, 2009 CSA Legislative Recap;
Budget Update: With Only Days Left, A Deal Emerges
 Legislative leaders and Governor Brewer have reached an agreement on the FY10 budget plan. Now, they need to shop the plan to the rank and file, hoping to secure sufficient votes to pass the measures. House Appropriations is scheduled to meet Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to hear the bills. No specific language is posted yet for review, but a legislative spreadsheet and various news reports provide some details.
The county impact appears to have been reduced substantially from the plan passed by the legislature. There is no shift of county vehicle license tax (VLT) to fund the state's K-12 obligations. Maricopa and Pima counties must pay a $22 million contribution to the state, down from $28 million. Counties also must help support two state programs at the Arizona State Hospital: $3.4 million for patients in "restoration to competency" and $2.1 million for patients in the community protection and treatment center.
Other impacts include: increasing the county share of Justice of the Peace salaries to 80.75% percent, reducing county assistance funds from the lottery by ten percent, and shifting $14.2 million from county HURF to fund DPS for a third consecutive year.
There may be other items, so please only consider this an interim assessment. More detail will follow after bill language is available.
NACo President Don Stapley Testifies Before Congress
By Steve Traylor, National Association of Counties (NACo) Associate Legislative Director-Reprinted from NACo.org/NACo County News
NACo President Don Stapley testified against proposed legislation that would preempt state and local taxing authority over the wireless communications industry.
The Cell Tax Fairness Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), would prohibit state and local governments from imposing new "discriminatory" taxes on wireless providers and services for five years.
Appearing before the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law June 9, Stapley told subcommittee members that enactment of the bill "would lead other industries to seek similar special federal protection from state and local taxes."
Testifying on behalf of NACo, the Government Finance Officers Association, the United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, Stapley spoke of the organizations' long-standing opposition to efforts by Congress to preempt state and local taxing authority. The legislation "represents a federal intrusion into historically protected state and local tax classifications," he said. "The federal government should not step in and impose a uniform, nationwide taxing scheme that provides preferential tax treatment to a single industry."
Because local governments must balance their budgets, unlike the federal government, Stapley emphasized that all budgeting options must be on the table. "This bill fails to recognize the plain fact that not all jurisdictions depend on identical revenue sources. This bill would force jurisdictions to rely even more heavily on other types of taxes, shifting the tax burden to those in the community less able to tolerate it."
Speaking from his long-time experience as a county supervisor in Arizona, Stapley told subcommittee members that "local taxing autonomy is crucial in helping to ensure that the needs of local citizens, our mutual constituents, are met. The ability to make taxing and other fiscal policy decisions at the local level, and without federal interference, has enabled Maricopa County to provide the quality services that our constituents have come to expect."
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Proposed Changes to County Authorities Fail to Merit Hearing
After Sen. Jay Tibshraeny refused to hear SB 1467: county elected officials; authority (Pearce) in the Senate Government Committee, proponents of the bill attempted to strike the measure on to SB 1444 (Melvin) in House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. Recognizing that the striker did not have the votes for passage, the chair of the committee held the bill.
The proposal sought to weaken the ability of the board of supervisors to exercise its primary obligation to county taxpayers--to provide proper stewardship and oversight of tax dollars across county operations. Several committee members on both sides of the isle were concerned with eroding critical checks and balances in local government and stood firmly opposed to the measure. Special thanks to Supervisor Elizabeth Archuleta (Coconino) and David Smith, Maricopa County manager, who were on hand to testify in committee against the striker.
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County Planning and Zoning Streamlining Bill on the Ropes
For years, home builders, developers, planning professionals and citizens have expressed frustration with Arizona's planning and zoning statutes. To improve this, county planners (via CSA) introduced SB 1111 (Paton), a 130 page reorganization of the title 11 planning statutes. No substantive changes were included; the goal was strictly to make navigating county P&Z law "user friendly."
On Friday, Rep. Sam Crump (R-Anthem) amended SB 1111 to include language that removes county board authority over the creation of local health services districts. Rep. Crump introduced a bill earlier in the session to remove the authority, HB 2273, but the bill failed 25-28. He moved to reconsider a few days later and the bill failed 30-24.
SB 1111, as amended, is now heading to the floor of the House for consideration.
This Week at the Legislature
The legislature continued marathon hearings and floor calendars of over 80 bills in a last push to finish bills before the end of the fiscal year.
The legislature heard the following county-related bills this week:
SB 1002: print; visual media; elected officials (Waring) passed Senate Third Read 28-1.
SB 1038: (strike everything: Native American tribes; revenue sharing) passed Senate Appropriations 9-0.SB 1062: law enforcement officers; disciplinary procedures (L. Gray) passed Senate Third Read 29-0, House Military Affairs and Public Safety 5-0, House Rules and House COW.
SB 1073: population thresholds; counties (Paton) passed Senate Third Read 23-6, House Government 8-0, and House Rules.
SB 1142: public expenditure transparency database (Paton) passed Senate Third Read 20-9.
SB 1152: mental health services; court ordered treatment (Paton) passed Senate Third Read 25-4, House Health and Human Services 8-0, and House Rules.
SB 1259: aggregate mine reclamation; initiation; extension (S. Allen) passed Senate Third Read 17-11, House Natural Resources and Rural Affairs (NRRA) 6-1, House Rules, and House COW.
SB 1260: aggregate mine reclamation law; exemption (S. Allen) passed House NRRA 5-2, House Rules, and House COW.
SB 1297: flood control districts; remainder parcels (Nelson) passed House NRRA 7-0 and House Rules.
SB 1330: special health care districts; terms (S. Allen) passed House Government 9-0, House Rules, and House COW.
SB 1403: renewable; high wage industries; incentives (Leff) passed House Ways and Means 5-2, House Rules, and House COW.
SB 1420: juvenile; adjudication; diversion (Verschoor) passed House MAPS 5-0, House Rules, and House COW.
SB 1446: animal shelters; procedures; requirements (Melvin) passed Senate COW and Senate Third Read 19-8.
HB 2063: probation; registration; monitoring (Konopnicki) passed House Third Read 54-0.
HB 2142: county water authority; Colorado River (McClain) passed Senate Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Public Debt (NRIPD) 7-0.
HB 2202: county stormwater management; reference correction (Barnes) passed Senate NRIPD 6-0, Senate Rules, Senate COW, and Senate Third Read 22-2.
HB 2258: consumer fireworks (Biggs) passed Senate Government Institutions 4-3 and Senate Rules.
HB 2337: energy efficient buildings (Mason) passed House Third Read 33-23.
HB 2372: county island fire districts (Murphy) passed Senate Finance 3-2.
HB 2424: illegal dumping; penalties (McGuire) passed Senate Retirement and Rural Development 6-0 and Senate Rules.
HB 2458: dogs; cats; release from pound (Court) passed Senate Government Institutions 6-1 and Senate Rules.
HB 2570: fire districts; boundaries; mergers; consolidation (Pratt) passed Senate Government 6-0.
HB 2572: sports authority districts (Stevens) passed House Third Read 37-19, Senate Government Institutions 4-2, and Senate Rules.
HB 2581: library districts; county reimbursement (Jones) passed Senate Governmental Institutions 6-0.
HB 2615: government transparency; political subdivisions (Montenegro) failed House Third Read 24-31.
Next Week at the Legislature
No hearings are scheduled for next week, as the Legislature is expected to sine die by Tuesday.
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