Information from the Arizona Capitol Times
As the year comes to a close and a new legislative session is on the horizon, lobbyists and lobbying groups across the state are firming up their agendas and trying to get lawmakers’ ears and votes.
Their constant push and pull on policymakers and careful tending to pending legislation will influence what new laws go on the books next year, and whose pet legislation never sees the light of day.
For many, simply educating the large incoming class of freshman lawmakers on the issues, making friends and firming up their future votes, is a major goal for the session. Some are expecting to spend most of the year, or next two years, on the defensive, while others are striking out with aggressive agendas and a list of laws that they say need to be changed.
Though the Goldwater Institute wasn’t able to push its marquee public union-busting legislation into law last year, Starlee Rhoades, vice president of external affairs, said the organization is undeterred and will try again — for most of the bills.
Besides reviving the union legislation, the Goldwater Institute plans to back changes to the Arizona Education Fund, which allows parents of special needs students to direct tax dollars that would otherwise go to public education to a savings account for whatever method of education the parents choose. The changes the institute seeks would open the fund to military families, parents of adopted children and parents of students in schools with D or F grades, as determined by Arizona Department of Education standards.
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns is pushing for restoration of the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF), which lawmakers have raided in recent years to fulfill needs elsewhere, leaving many cities and counties to pick up the tab for road projects or allow infrastructure to crumble.
Ken Strobeck, the league’s executive director, said the Legislature made progress last year when it eliminated the amount of HURF money that was diverted to Motor Vehicles Department. He said he will push for similar steps this year, like ending the diversion of money to the Department of Public Safety.
He’s also hopeful about some of the recommendations coming out of the governor’s Transaction Privilege Tax Simplification Task Force, especially from the subcommittees working on the standardization of state and local sales taxes and online retail transactions.
