Higher benefits for jobless Arizonans are a must, Senate president says

PHOENIX — The Senate president is firing a warning salvo at House Republicans who would kill the first increase in unemployment benefits in 17 years: It’s not a good move for your political future.

Sen. President Karen Fann is a key player behind the move to increase the cap on the state’s jobless benefits by $80 a week, to $320. That would move Arizona from the second lowest in the country to close to the middle of the pack.

It’s a “going-home’’ bill for her, meaning something she wants to accomplish before this year’s legislative session ends. “That unemployment bill is the right thing to do,’’ she said.

Only thing is, there are efforts to kill it in the Republican-controlled House. And she is not pleased.

“It’s one thing if you vote ‘no’ on it,’’ said Fann, a Prescott Republican. “But to actively try and kill it and pull it out of the (state) budget probably doesn’t bode well to next year when they want their bills put up on the (voting) board.’’

Fann has the absolute power to decide which bills get a vote in the full Senate, and which do not. And she will hold the job of Senate president through the 2022 legislative session.

Not adjusted since 2004

Arizona law says those who are fired or laid off through no fault of their own are entitled to collect one-half of what they were earning before.

But the law also caps those weekly checks at $240, a figure that has not been adjusted since 2004.

Prior efforts to raise it generally have been opposed by business interests as they’re the ones who finance the benefits through a tax on the first $7,000 of each worker’s salary. While each company’s levy varies depending on how much staff turnover it has, the average cost, according to the Department of Economic Security, is $160 a year.

The issue got new focus this year with Arizona’s unemployment rate topping 14% during the pandemic. While there were extra benefits available through the federal government, those disappear in a month, leaving in place that $240 cap — essentially $6 an hour for a full 40-hour week — regardless of how much someone was making before being laid off.

Fann had shepherded a stand-alone bill through the Senate earlier this year on a 25-4 vote, with just four members of her own GOP in opposition. But it ran into problems in the House, where Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, had a similar plan but with a few key differences, including moving the cap only to $300 rather than Fann’s $320.

So Fann got the language she wants inserted into one of the package of bills to enact the state budget and tax cuts.

Freshman rep tried to kill it

The House got first whack at the legislation June 7.

Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who has been in the Legislature only since January, tried to strip the unemployment measure out of the bill.

In a floor speech, Hoffman called it “welfare.’’ He cited employers who are having trouble finding people willing to work for them.

“Taxing small business to pay potential employees more money to not work is just bad policy, plain and simple,’’ he said.

The maneuver, which failed, angered Fann.

“The brand-new freshmen that have come on board somehow haven’t figured out that there is protocol that we follow down here, there is a decorum,’’ said Fann, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2010.

“One of those things is, you have to remember you have to work with the Senate next year and you have to work with the Senate president next year,’’ she said, reminding them of her absolute ability to decide which bills get a vote.

Hoffman declined requests to talk about the issue and his efforts.

Instead, he provided a prepared statement about his views on the overall state spending plan and the proposed tax cut.

Hoffman, who claims the support of “nearly 30% of the Republican caucus in the House,’’ said he is working for a budget that reflects “the conservative principles that every Republican legislator promised to their voters.’’

Talks resume this week to come up with a plan. Time is running out, with a new fiscal year beginning July 1.

And that will give Hoffman another chance to try to quash any increase in jobless benefits.

Key to Fann’s budget vote

Fann said Hoffman and any of his followers don’t seem to understand the ramifications of their efforts.

“I’m a ‘no’ on the budget without it,’’ she said, meaning the increase in benefits has to be part of the final plan — including the tax cuts that Hoffman wants — if it is to get adopted.

Her anger goes beyond the immediate future of the spending plan and tax-cut package. “I don’t normally talk like this,’’ Fann said.

“I’m one of these people that tries to work with everybody and help each other out,’’ she said. “But that pendulum has swung a little too far in the other way where there’s definitely a lack of respect for leadership, much less the other (legislative) chamber.’’

The political reality of the legislative process, she noted, is coming up with proposals that can get the support of the majority of the Senate and House as well as the backing of the governor, who has the power of veto.

“You can’t have everything your own way,’’ Fann said. “This is why we work together as a caucus. This is why we work together as an entire legislative body.’’