Lawmaker says pet projects reduced tax rebates for Arizonans

PHOENIX — The head of a conservative legislative caucus says more Arizonans would have gotten tax rebates if other lawmakers — including some of his Republican colleagues — had not instead nabbed funding for hometown pet projects.

At a news conference Monday, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, chairman of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, boasted of the $260 million set aside in the state’s $17.8 billion budget for one-time tax relief. He said that was necessary to help offset inflation and higher costs he laid at the feet of the Biden administration.

But that $260 million, he said, left just enough so that the only people eligible were families with children.

As for others, including seniors living on fixed incomes, he said, “Had every member of the Legislature committed their dollars to funding this, we would have had a $2.4 billion rebate, which would have been able to impact seniors and those other categories.”

That was the amount left over after lawmakers adopted a state government funding plan for the upcoming fiscal year and made required adjustments for inflation and program growth.

To line up the votes, negotiators agreed to give each lawmaker money to allocate — generally $30 million for senators and $20 million for representatives, with a separate allocation for the governor — from that surplus.

Lawmakers had the option of pooling their shares for larger issues, such as the decision by Democrats to pool some of their share for $300 million in one-time funding for K-12 education. The $150 million deposit into the Housing Trust Fund also came out of Democrats’ pooled dollars.

Hoffman sought to do the same thing for the tax rebate.

“But, unfortunately, what we saw for this budget season was that only the members behind me and a handful of other conservative Republicans chose to spend their money that way, chose to spend taxpayer dollars to give it back to taxpayers,’’ he bemoaned.

Well, not exactly.

‘We took care of our district’

Among those assembled at the podium behind Hoffman was Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City. Borelli conceded his share ended up being earmarked for a $35.5 million bridge at Lake Havasu City.

But when asked about GOP lawmakers who decided to spend on projects ranging from traffic circles, pavement improvements, sidewalk construction and extending highways, Hoffman deflected the question.

“You want to talk about Republicans?’’ he said. “The reality is not a single Democrat contributed even one penny of that $2.4 billion to help Arizona families with the tax rebate. That’s an unfortunate travesty.’’

Asked about the $300 million to help fund K-12 schools, he responded, “That’s not what we’re here to talk about today.”

Borrelli defended earmarking his share of the surplus for something other than tax relief.

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“Rural Arizona was always ignored,’’ he told Capitol Media Services after the news conference.

Having a second bridge at Lake Havasu City is a matter of public safety, he said.

“We took care of our district,’’ Borrelli said. “That’s what they sent me here to do.’’

Decisions usually go to ADOT

He did not dispute that, under normal circumstances, the priority for funding road projects is determined by the Arizona Department of Transportation. It has a constantly updated five-year plan in which it funds needs based on priorities.

But leaving the decision to ADOT clearly left Borrelli cold. “So you’re saying a state agency, a bureaucracy, has more authority than the state Legislature to dictate how that money’s going to be spent, and in what manner?” he said.

Borrelli is far from the only one to demand his share of the surplus, though he was the only one who showed up at Hoffman’s news conference to take credit for the rebate.

The projects are scattered around the state.

Tucson’s share

Among the 44 earmarks, there’s $1.8 million for the city of Sierra Vista for improvements on Theater Drive. Globe will get $3.5 million for sidewalk construction along Jesse Hayes and Six Shooter Canyon roads. There’s $15 million for Tucson for improvements to a Drexel Road bridge.

Other funding is for projects yet to come.

The budget has $9.2 million for Pinal County to engineer and design a new east-west corridor. Another $10 million would go to Marana to design a traffic interchange between Interstate 10 and Cortaro Road. And there’s $250,000 to Cave Creek to study expanding the number of lanes along Cave Creek Road.

Not all the earmarks are for roads.

There’s $750,000 for Chandler, Tucson and Mesa police departments for a pilot program on the use of pepper balls. Peoria police will get $3.5 million for a helicopter. Mohave County is in line for $500,000 for sheriff’s office vehicle purchases.

Nonprofits also got in on the action, including $15.3 million for a volunteer organization that operates a rodeo at the Yavapai County fairgrounds.