JTED funding
Gov. Doug Ducey late Wednesday signed legislation to restore virtually all of the money that he and GOP lawmakers voted just a year ago to cut from career and technical education programs.
SB 1525 rescinds the 2015 vote to trim state funding for the 14 Joint Technical Education Districts by $30 million this coming school year. That was close to half of the $70 million the state provides for the special programs above and beyond regular state aid to schools.
The deal puts back $28 million, with an additional $1 million on top of that to ensure that adult students already enrolled in JTED programs can finish their courses. After that, a change in the law will require certain adults to pay tuition for the training.
Public safety pensions
Police and firefighters hired beginning July 1 will enter a pension system different from those who came before.
Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed legislation that sets up a different system of contributions and benefits for new employees than the one existing for those already working as well as those who have already retired. In essence, these new workers will have to pay a larger portion of their salary into the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.
They also will have to work longer than current workers before they can get a full pension.
New employees also will have the option of a βdefined contributionβ pension system, similar to a 401(k) plan offered by private companies, where the worker and employer each contribute a set amount. The amount of the pension is based on the earnings rather than a formula which computes the years of service and age.
The goal of the plan is to help cut the $6 billion gap between what the retirement system has in assets and what are its obligations. At this point, the system is less than 50 percent funded.
License plates
The company that sells materials used to make Arizona license plates wants to put the state in a position where it could be forced to pay it more.
Tom Dorn, lobbyist for the 3M Corp., is pushing legislation to allow the Department of Transportation to force motorists to replace their license plates every seven years. Now, motorists keep their current plates as long as they want.
Dorn told members of the Senate Transportation Committee that itβs a matter of safety, given that the desert heat can make plates unreadable. But it is 3M that provides the coatings that protect the plates and make them reflective.
ADOT lobbyist Kevin Biesty warned lawmakers that any change in the law is likely to provoke an angry reaction from motorists.
βTheyβll say, βIβve got this perfectly good license plate and now the government wants me to pay $5 for a new one,β ββ he said.
The committee approved SB 1491 on a 6-0 vote.
Gold and silver coins
A House panel voted Monday to give a state tax break to those who put their money into U.S. issued gold and silver coins.
Under current law, if someone buys $1,000 worth of American golden eagles and then sells them a year later for $1,500 because the price of gold has risen, the federal government considers that $500 difference a taxable capital gain. HB 2043 would say that if the transaction was made by Arizona residents, they could deduct that $500 from the figure they report to the state as taxable income, effectively lowering their state income taxes.
βThe IRS has figured out a way to tax the exchange of money, which is prohibited under federal law,β said Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, to members of the House Ways and Means Committee. He said it would be like imposing a tax when someone bought quarters with paper money.
Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a similar measure last year. The measure now needs House approval.
City ID cards
State senators gave preliminary approval to legislation limiting the ability of cities to issue identification cards.
The move comes as the city of Phoenix is considering making such cards available to all residents to ease their ability to access things like banking. But Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said governments should not be in the business of issuing official-looking IDs to people who are not in the country legally.
SB 1017 says cities can issue ID cards only to people who provide the same kind of documentation necessary to get a non-operator identification card from the Motor Vehicle Division. And those documents generally are not available to someone who is in this country illegally.
A final Senate vote sends the measure to the House.
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