State lawmakers will debate Wednesday whether to set aside $2.5 million in tax dollars to help build a memorial in Tucson to victims of the 2011 shooting that killed six and wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The bipartisan legislation would allocate $500,000 for each of the next five years to match money being raised locally for what backers are hoping will one day become a monument in the national parks system. Republican Congresswoman Martha McSally, who represents the same district Giffords did, is pushing that proposal in Washington.
But HB 2436, set for a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee, is conditional on that monument status being approved. If that effort fails, the money goes back to the state.
State Rep. Todd Clodfelter, R-Tucson, the prime sponsor of the measure, said what happened on Jan. 8, 2011, deserves some special recognition β and the expenditure of state dollars.
βSheβs one of the first people to, in a Congress town hall, be attacked and shot,β he said.
βAnd six people died,β Clodfelter said. βThereβs value in commemorating that so we donβt ever forget those kind of tragedies.β
Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson, a co-sponsor of the measure, agreed.
βIt is a very unique situation, certainly a tragic event that happened in this state in the city of Tucson, (the) attempted assassination on a sitting congressperson, which is historic, hasnβt happened for hundreds of years,β he said.
And both noted that Giffords served as a state legislator before being elected to Congress.
Proponents of the memorial have estimated it will take about $4.5 million to construct.
Crystal Kasnoff said last fall that the foundation had raised about $1.7 million, including $500,000 from selling the naming rights to a garden pathway outside the memorial.
Plans include carved symbols to represent victims as well as incorporating items left as a memorial.
The request for dollars will be competing with other budget priorities, ranging from $13 million for a 0.4 percent pay hike for teachers to $1 million to fix buildings at the state fairgrounds.
But Clodfelter said the expense can be justified by its likely rate of return.
βPeople actually do travel the country and visit national memorials,β he said. βIf thatβs the case, we should get that investment back in time with tax revenues.β
He pointed out that a memorial was set up in the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, when passengers overcame the hijackers who were planning to fly the plane into the U.S. Capitol.
βThey figure that since they established that their community and the surrounding area has had about a $300 million improvement in their economy from people coming to visit,β Clodfelter said.
βThey spend money, they fly in, they drive in, they buy food, they buy souvenirs, they stay in hotels,β he said. βIt can be an investment in the community as well.β
Friese said he tried to get the measure approved last year. He said despite bipartisan support, he ran into opposition from House leadership.
βItβs moving this year,β he said.
Whatβs changed?
One thing is that the measure has a Republican name as the prime sponsor. Friese said, though, he canβt say thatβs provided the impetus to get the bill a hearing.
McSally press aide Patrick Ptak said HR 362, her proposal to have the site declared a national monument, contains no funds for construction, operation or maintenance. But he said it does authorize the National Park Service to use funds to promote the site.
Among those killed in the 2011 incident were U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll, Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, 76-year-old Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck, 79, and Dorwan Stoddard, 76.
Jared Loughner pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple charges to escape the death penalty. But that deal came with a life prison term.
