Denogean: ‘I Didn’t Pay Enough Fund’ bill not funny
by Anne T. Denogean on Mar. 04, 2008, under Local, SpecialIt’s good to know our legislators are maintaining a sense of humor even as the state sinks deeper into the red with each passing day.
Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, introduced a real knee-slapper of a bill earlier this session. If passed into law, HB 2339 would authorize an “I Didn’t Pay Enough Fund” and create a space on the state income tax form for Arizonans to make a voluntary contribution to the state.
See how funny that is? Nobody likes taxes. Oh, the absurdity of it.
But is it really all that amusing for our elected officials to use the legislative process to make a joke?
Instead of offering real solutions to the state’s budget crisis, Burges and 31 other Republican legislators who signed on as bill co-sponsors are taking a jab at colleagues who don’t support tax cuts if it means that schools are left underfunded, prisons understaffed and the health care needs of Arizona’s low-income families unmet. It’s also a swipe at Arizonans who are willing to pay for those services, as long as the burden is shared by everybody.
According to the fact sheet accompanying HB 2339, Republican presidential contender and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee established the first fund of this type, the “Tax Me More” fund, in 2001 by executive order. Court jesters, oops I mean, elected officials, in seven other states followed by instituting their own voluntary contribution funds to the general fund.
Not surprisingly, these funds have collected a negligible amount of revenue.
Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, sits on the House Ways and Means panel that heard and moved the bill along on a 5-4 vote Feb. 18. He voted “no” and wished he could have voted “offended.”
“It’s just a purely rhetorical, sarcastic thing. It’s a stupid waste of time.”
House Republicans from the Tucson area – Jennifer Burns, Pete Hershberger, Marian McClure and Jonathan Paton – didn’t add their names as co-sponsors of HB 2339 (nor did Tim Bee, the Senate president from Tucson).
Burns and McClure said they weren’t asked and haven’t looked at the bill.
Paton said he wasn’t asked and doesn’t like to co-sponsor lots of bills. I’ll add that he has his hands full trying to do something meaningful – reform Child Protective Services – under whose watch five Tucson children died in the past year.
Hershberger, who also is working on CPS issues, described HB 2339 as “a dig at legislators with different principles.”
“It was a nonsense bill, and I wouldn’t have signed onto it even if they had asked me.”
I find it ironic that legislators who purport to be concerned with our tax dollars don’t mind wasting legislative resources for their little joke.
Mike Braun, executive director of the Arizona Legislative Council, which drafts all bills, said it’s impossible to calculate the cost of running a bill through the Legislature.
Some are short and simple. Some are long and complicated.
“It’s kind of like saying, ‘What does a car cost?’ ” Braun said.
New or used? What year? What make? What model? Bare bones or top-of-the-line?
But every bill is drafted by one of the 11 attorneys on the Legislative Council staff. Each bill is edited, word-processed and printed. Somebody has to post the bill on the Legislature’s Web site.
A House or Senate researcher may spend time creating fact sheets and summaries, explaining the bill’s history and possible ramifications.
HB 2339 also received a committee hearing, which meant it took up the time, however brief, of nine legislators.
I left several messages for Burges, none of which she returned, even though I left a cell number and an assurance that it was OK to call on the weekend.
Perhaps she was too embarrassed to talk about her Ford Pinto of a bill.
As the former owner of an AMC Pacer, I understand.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.
