Phoenix taxpayers recently paid almost a half a million dollars for a report that looked at city-employee compensation. The report reveals that some types of workers get paid more than the market average; some get paid less. But when you include benefits, the report found that all government workers in Phoenix are vastly better off than private sector workers.

These findings could have been obtained for a fraction of the cost, simply by surveying existing academic literature. Unlike the Goldwater Institute’s own research, which has revealed that public sector collective bargaining costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, there is little in the way of actual “news” in the new Phoenix report. In fact, the report missed an opportunity to uncover the real differences in pay and benefits between government and private workers in the City of Phoenix.

The Phoenix report omits any comparison of the hourly compensation of government versus private sector workers. It’s a big omission, particularly since the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported state and local government workers receive average hourly compensation that is 44 percent higher than private sector workers.

This failure to compare hourly compensation, despite abundant resources to do so, demonstrates that the city-funded report doesn’t present an accurate picture of the local differences in compensation between government and private sector workers. It also calls into question whether this omission was inadvertent or by design — such an analysis may have revealed that government employees receive dramatically more hourly compensation than private sector workers.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.

Stephen Slivinski is the Senior Economist with the Goldwater Institute.

Learn more:

Goldwater Institute: Save Taxpayers Tens of Billions of Dollars

City of Phoenix: Balancing Competitive Employment and Stewardship of Public Funds

When I first heard Governor Brewer’s proposal to retire debt on the state’s capitol buildings, I thought it was a bad idea. The main reason: early-payoff penalties. There just was no good reason to bear such costs.

It turns out that early payoff penalties are not an issue. The state has to deposit a lump-sum of $106 million into an account that is held by a third party, over which ownership is exercised by the creditors who lent the state the $81 million secured by the capitol buildings. The cash substitutes for the buildings as collateral and we get back the deeds, free and clear.

The $106 million accounts for all the interest and principal we were going to have to spend to pay off the loan over the next 20 years. There is no pre-payment penalty.

Some might say that getting back the capitol buildings’ paper is just symbolic nonsense for the sake of the state’s centennial. And sentiment is a bad reason to pursue any policy. But this is more than a feel-good idea.

The biggest advantage to this early payoff, though, is that it avoids the temptation to spend temporary money on ongoing programs – the ones that it looks like we can afford now, but that we might not be able to afford later. We did that for several years before the recession, and look where that got us.

It’s not safe to assume we’ve entered into a long-term, steady economic expansion with steady government revenues to accompany it. So, while we have a temporary surplus, let’s pay down the state’s debt.

Dr. Byron Schlomach is the director of the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Economic Prosperity.

Learn more:

Office of the Governor: The Facts about a Capitol Buy-Back

Goldwater Institute: Living Debt Free: Restoring Arizona’s Commitment to its Constitutional Debt Limit

In December, the Goldwater Institute filed a constitutional challenge to the City of Phoenix’s practice of “release time” within the police union. This practice takes six city police officers off the streets and puts them behind desks to work as full-time union managers, 35 to work as part-time union representatives, and one to work full time as a union lobbyist — all while collecting city salaries and benefits.

As surprising as it may be, the practice is widespread among local-government unions around the country. A win in court will lead to the elimination or severe curtailment of the practice across Arizona. Unions would be forced to pay for the practice through their own union dues or, at the very least, compensate taxpayers for their use of public employees.

But the legislature has a chance to go one step further to guarantee the practice is banned in its entirety. Arizona Senate Bill 1486 would prohibit municipalities from signing contracts that fund union release time in any manner. The bill, sponsored by Arizona Senator Rick Murphy, was introduced yesterday to the Arizona Senate. It requires city governments to respect the Arizona Constitution and rescues taxpayers from unknowingly funding union activity.

No doubt unions will object, likely predicting all sorts of negative consequences for government workers. But teachers’ unions were barred from using full-time release positions in 2010 with no disasters to speak of, and city employees in Scottsdale seem to function just fine without any type of union release time.

The lawsuit and legislation come at a good time. In Phoenix and other cities, unions have issued new demands to be considered in upcoming negotiations— demands that include even more release-time hours and even more public employees transferred from government jobs to union work.

Release time is a unsavory, unconstitutional give away to unions that must be stopped, whether it happens in the courts or with legislative action and a signature from the Governor.

Taylor Earl is an attorney for the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Learn More:

Goldwater Institute: Money for Nothing: Phoenix Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Work

Goldwater Institute: Do Police Officers Pay for Release Time?

Arizona State Legislature: SB1486

By Stephen Slivinski

An important driver of job growth is investment. Without investment, new businesses may not flourish or even see the light of day. And venture capital investment in technology start-ups is one of the highest-profile sources of new business births.

Tax policy can either obstruct the new capital that businesses need or it can step out of the way and allow thousands of flowers to bloom. A number of studies have shown that taxes on capital gains – the return an entrepreneur or investor receives on their investment – have been shown to be a barrier to entrepreneurship and the job growth it creates.

Capital flows where it can find high returns and low barriers to allocation, and businesses in states with lower capital gains taxes receive more investment than their higher-tax counterparts. A 1998 study by Harvard University professors Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner concluded that entrepreneurial activity is sensitive to the taxation of capital gains. In particular, the authors found that a reduction in capital gains taxes is associated with an increase in venture capital funding in a state.

A 2010 study by William Gentry of Williams College came to the same conclusion. His paper noted that “capital gains taxes could distort a number of important decisions of entrepreneurs. These decisions include starting a new business, expanding the business, and obtaining outside financing; the capital gains tax can also affect whether and when an entrepreneur sells his or her business.”

Arizona, like most states with an income tax, treats capital gains as “normal” income and taxes it at the same rate as all other income. But nine states, including New Mexico, tax investment at a lower rate than their standard income tax.

In the material released after the State of the State speech, Governor Brewer indicated she understands that Arizona needs to lower its tax barriers to capital investment – an important step. But the governor and legislature should go further and eliminate the tax on capital gains altogether.

Arizona can be the first state with an income tax to do that and could, as a consequence, end up being a hub for new venture capital activity.

Stephen Slivinski is a Senior Economist with the Goldwater Institute.

Learn more:

American Council for Capital Formation: Capital Gains Taxation and Entrepreneurship

Harvard University: What Drives Venture Capital Fundraising? (PDF)

American Action Forum: Employment Effects of Reducing Capital Gains Tax Rates in Ohio

At least one Arizona city understands that the key to economic growth is more freedom and lower costs levied on businesses.

The City of El Mirage recently announced that it was abandoning “impact fees” – regulatory hurdles that hold a developer’s property rights hostage. The fees are supposed to cover the cost of the impact that new development has on city infrastructure. But in reality, they’re a surtax on economic growth that is often used to fund unnecessary luxuries like public art and theatres.

El Mirage has set a great example, but one isolated reform won’t prevent El Mirage or any other city in the U.S. from slipping back into bad habits once the good times return. Local governments still need a long-term plan for embracing freedom and prosperity-friendly policies in good times and bad.

Fortunately, a new bill sponsored by Senator Lori Klein promises to fulfill that need in Arizona.

Based on the Goldwater Institute’s research in A New Charter for America’s Cities, Senator Klein is sponsoring SB1064, which would give cities the power to adopt a “Local Liberty Charter.” Any city adopting the charter would embrace a 20-year plan for economic growth based on individual freedom and responsibility, including a prohibition on subsidies to private businesses, an end to excessive regulations, competitive contracting of services other than public safety, and the limitation of local spending to population and inflation growth.

Even if only a handful of cities adopted the charters, the contrast between them and others would eventually produce a stark difference in prosperity. Moreover, the inevitable success of what Senator Barry Goldwater called “freedom’s model” would be a crucial force in persuading cities to choose freedom.

Learn more:

Arizona Republic: “El Mirage showing that it’s ‘pro-growth’”

Arizona State Senate: Senate Bill 1064

Goldwater Institute: A New Charter for American Cities

It’s not every day that the New York Times makes a compelling case against government giveaways. But a recent page-one article underscored that the Solyndra scandal was only the tip of the solar-subsidy iceberg. Huge companies like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, General Electric, utilities including Exelon and NRG, and even Google are receiving government guarantees that ensure large profits with virtually no risk — except to the taxpayer.

The Times ascribes to the Obama administration a “gold-rush mentality” when Congress expanded green-power incentives in 2009, despite a paralyzing federal deficit. The chief executive of NRG, which received $5.2 billion in federal loan guarantees plus hundreds of millions in other subsidies for solar projects, gushed that “I have never seen anything . . . in my 20 years in the power industry that involved less risk than these projects.”

A start-up industry with no capital risk to investors? It’s a nifty deal if you can get it—and many have. “It is like building a hotel, where you know in advance you are going to have 100 percent room occupancy for 25 years,” the Times quotes the CEO of SolarReserve. Even some of President Obama’s top advisors have warned of industry “double-dipping.”

Solar may be the most-subsidized industry in American history. Not only are producers subsidized at the federal, state, and sometimes even local levels, but consumers are subsidized to purchase solar panels, utility companies are forced to use and further subsidize solar power, and higher utility rates are passed along to Americans amidst deep recession.

Arizona is immersed in solar subsidies, providing tax breaks and (through the Corporation Commission) mandating that 15 percent of all utility energy be provided through specified renewable sources. Cost and technological feasibility are no object, and every dollar in added costs is passed along to consumers through a utility surcharge.

If the New York Times gets it, shouldn’t sensible, self-styled conservative elected officials? It’s time for government to stop playing Santa Claus to this pampered industry.

Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Learn more:

New York Times: A Gold Rush of Subsidies in Clean Energy Search

Governor Jan Brewer has declared that one of her priorities in the coming session is to pay down the state’s debt. The idea, mirrored by leadership proposals in the state house and senate, is both timely and refreshingly frank.

By any straight-face test, the state has continuously violated the Arizona Constitution’s mandate that current-year expenses be funded largely on a “pay as you go” cash basis — not through debt. Now that the state anticipates as much as $650 million in surplus tax revenue, it is time to square Arizona’s fiscal policy with the state constitution.

Enabled by legal precedents that embraced fiscal gamesmanship decades ago, the state has long skirted the Arizona Constitution’s $350,000 debt limit using a variety of budget tricks. Officials have sold and leased-back buildings, used credit lines and warrants to cover huge gaps between spending and revenue, and rolled-over liabilities from one budget year into the next.

While last year’s budget was relatively gimmick-free, hundreds of millions of dollars of past fiscal gimmickry remain on the books.

An unretired debt is a tax on future generations. Our state’s founders largely banned debt to protect those voiceless future generations from taxation without representation.

Arizona’s “pay-as-you-go” constitutional policy properly imposes political accountability on current politicians for their fiscal choices. For this reason, constitutionalists, tax hawks and fiscal responsibility mavens should agree with Governor Brewer and legislative leadership: Use the surplus to retire the state’s unconstitutional debt.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.

Learn more:

Arizona Republic: Plans for Arizona Budget Vary

Goldwater Institute: Living Debt Free: Restoring Arizona’s Commitment to its Constitutional Debt Limit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2012
CONTACT: Matt Benson

Releases Bold Plan to Boost Economy, Reform Education and Modernize Government

PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer today unveiled for 2012 and beyond a detailed policy agenda designed to prepare the State of Arizona for its second century. The policy agenda accompanied the Governor’s delivery of the Centennial State of the State address.

“Arizonans can take heart in how far this state has come from the darkest days of the recession and fiscal crisis, but now is no time to lose focus,” said Governor Brewer. “Every one of us benefits daily from the wise foresight and dedication of Arizona’s founders and great leaders of the past. Now, we have an obligation to make the tough choices that will set a prosperous course for Arizona’s second century.

“That means clearing the unnecessary obstacles to economic growth, and building an education system worthy of your children’s limitless promise. It means modernizing state government to ensure it is both efficient and effective, and protecting the rights of Arizona citizens against a federal government that has lost its way.”

The policy agenda reinforces and furthers the Governor’s Four Cornerstones of Reform, a blueprint to:

• improve Arizona’s economic competitiveness;
• bring needed reforms to K-12 and higher education;
• modernize state government; and
• push back against a federal government that has exceeded its constitutional authority.

Additional policy initiatives in areas like economic development will be announced in the days ahead as Governor Brewer issues her state budget plan for Fiscal 2013.

1st Cornerstone: Economic Competitiveness 

The economy continues to be a top concern for Governor Brewer, though the outlook has brightened considerably in recent months. The State of Arizona added nearly 46,000 jobs between 2010 and 2011, and its job growth ranked 7th-best nationally.

Governor Brewer now asks the Legislature to build upon last year’s signature economic initiative –

the Arizona Competitiveness Package – with a new effort to prepare unemployed and underemployed Arizonans for new careers and aid small businesses by simplifying the state tax code. The Governor also reiterated her support for the proposed I-11, a planned interstate highway that would promote tourism and trade between two of the country’s fastest-growing metro areas: Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Additional economic initiatives include:

• Creation of a community-college scholarship program to help adults re-train and transition into careers that fulfill local needs.
• A requirement that individuals enrolling in a taxpayer-funded job-training program undergo drug testing.

2nd Cornerstone: Education 

Arizona already has the framework in place for comprehensive education reform with the Arizona Ready initiative. This plan establishes more rigorous standards for students, teachers and schools, provides new methods for parents to gauge student achievement and monitor school performance, and sets yearly benchmarks to track Arizona’s education improvements between now and 2020.

Funding is part of the education equation, as Governor Brewer recognized with her successful push for Proposition 100 in 2010. She always pledged that the 1-cent tax would expire after three years. And it will, in 2013, as the Governor reinforced today.

However, Governor Brewer will remain part of ongoing discussions about proper funding for education in Arizona, and believes the current model does little to encourage innovation or performance on the part of teachers, professors and administrators.

Governor Brewer’s education plan includes initiatives to:

• Implement performance-based funding for Arizona’s institutions of higher education, while reviewing and reforming Community College State Aid.
• Produce a searchable database so that every parent can research the license and any disciplinary actions taken against their children’s teachers, and reform the teacher decertification process.
• Lead a campaign this year to encourage involvement by parents in their children’s education.

3rd Cornerstone: State Government

The citizens of Arizona deserve a lean, effective and efficient State government.

Governor Brewer will create a Government Transformation Office, housed within the Department of Administration, which will be responsible for identifying process improvements and best practices to minimize redundancies and improve customer service. Governor Brewer also will pursue reforms that modernize the State personnel system, making it easier to hire and reward the most talented employees, while removing red tape that hinders removal of the least productive workers.

The State of Arizona has an obligation to vulnerable Arizonans, including the mentally ill and children under state supervision or care.

For the seriously mentally ill (SMI), planning already is underway for a pilot program that will integrate physical and behavioral health services for Medicaid-eligible SMI individuals. This approach is expected to result in fewer hospitalizations and less reliance on the crisis system.

In recent days, Governor Brewer was provided a series of recommendations by her Arizona Child Safety Task Force. While she continues to review those recommendations, the Governor proposes several child-safety initiatives for immediate adoption. They include:

• Involvement of law enforcement in all Priority 1 investigations that contain allegations of criminal conduct.
• Improvement of CPS caseworker training, both pre-service and continuing, including the training of CPS workers in law enforcement techniques.
• Overhaul of the abuse hotline to improve screening, decrease wait times and expedite high-priority calls.
• Introduction of Quality Management initiatives throughout CPS to streamline processes and improve outcomes for children.
• Enhance transparency and accountability.

4th Cornerstone: Renewed Federalism

The State of Arizona has a long history of pushing back against federal overreach, and will continue to be a national leader among states seeking a return to a system of cooperative federalism. Governor Brewer will maintain the defense of SB 1070, and will remain a vocal opponent of mandates under the federal health care law. Both landmark cases will be heard this year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

With this past fire season the worst in Arizona State history, mismanagement of federal lands came into frightening focus as yet another area in which the federal government has neglected its duties. Strategic thinning can both reduce the risk of massive blazes and be an economic benefit to rural communities. With today’s State of the State Address, Governor Brewer called upon the federal government to stop its needless delay of the 4 Forest Restoration Initiative, a breakthrough, collaborative plan to restore 2.4 million acres across the Kaibab, Coconino, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto national forests.

“We are all blessed to be Arizonans, and I am honored to have a hand in guiding this state into its second century,” said Governor Brewer. “Working together, and drawing upon the grit of Arizona’s founders and judgment of the giants of our past, I’m confident Arizona’s next 100 years can be even more fruitful than the last.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C., January 5, 2012

“Unfortunately, December’s jobs numbers fizzled, with the net change in employment per firm turning negative again; small businesses lost an average .15 workers per firm. Seasonally adjusted, 13 percent of the owners added an average of 2.6 workers per firm over the past few months, and 12 percent reduced employment an average of 3.5 workers per firm. However, the majority of owners (75 percent) made no net change in employment. Forty-five percent of owners hired or tried to hire in the past 3 months, but 34 percent of them reported few or no qualified applicants for the position(s).

“The good news is that the number of owners cutting jobs has ‘normalized’. In the past several months, reports of those cutting workers have been at the lowest levels since the recession started in December 2007. Initial claims for unemployment are now running closer to 375,000—a great improvement in recent months. In a solid job market, over 300,000 file initial claims for unemployment, thus current readings are much closer to full employment levels than they have been for years.  The percentage of owners adding workers continued to trend up. Given this trend, reports of new job creation should see a slight uptick in the coming months.

“Fifteen percent of owners (seasonally adjusted) reported hard to fill job openings. Although down 1 point from November, this is the second highest reading in 39 months. Over the next three months, 9 percent plan to increase employment (down 2 points), and 8 percent plan to reduce their workforce (down 3 points), yielding a seasonally adjusted net 6 percent of owners planning to create new jobs, a 1 point decline but still one of the strongest readings since September 2008.

“Only time will tell what 2012 will bring. At least it appears that plans to hire are trending in a positive direction.”

# # #

NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. More information is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.

Every year, people and their income move between states. They move for a number of reasons, but there’s ample evidence that cost of living and its relationship to tax burdens are a factor.

The Internal Revenue Service publishes data that shows the movement of income and people between the states by tracking federal “adjusted gross income” flows. A database, created by The Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., lets the public compare states.

Arizona fares reasonably well. The state saw a net influx of about $2.89 billion in income since the start of the recession at the end of 2007 through the end of 2010. Perhaps not surprisingly, the largest chunk – just over 20%, or $688 million – came from people fleeing California. The next two biggest chunks came from the basket-case economies of Illinois ($380 million) and Michigan ($294 million). People clearly see Arizona as a better place to live and work than states with high tax burdens and winnowing job prospects.

But we are losing income to other states as well. The biggest out-migration of income for Arizona in that period ($170 million) went to Texas, a state that, along with Nevada and Colorado, grabbed more income from California than we did. The first two states have no income tax and the third has a flat income tax.

Taxes aren’t the only thing affecting migration. But they are one of the most direct tools state policymakers can use to influence job creation and economic opportunity. Arizona legislators can and should make the state attractive in as many ways as possible to compete with other states that may have more natural advantages than we do. Eliminating the income tax would catapult Arizona ahead of neighboring states that we are competing with for jobs.

Stephen Slivinski is senior economist for the Goldwater Institute.

Learn More:

Goldwater Institute: The Tax Man and the Moving Van: Fiscal Policy and State Policy Shifts

Tax Foundation: State to State Migration Data

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2011
CONTACT: Matthew Benson

Standard and Poor’s Upgrades Credit Outlook for State of Arizona
Latest Indication that the Arizona Comeback is in Progress

PHOENIX – One of the nation’s largest credit ratings services, Standard and Poor’s, announced today that it has upgraded to “stable” its outlook on the State of Arizona’s fiscal condition. S&P also upgraded to “stable” its outlook on the State’s certificates of participation and lease revenue debt.

State of Arizona finances previously carried a negative outlook from the credit ratings service.

“This is fantastic news, and serves as one more indication that Arizona is on the comeback trail,” said Governor Jan Brewer. “The last three years haven’t been easy. But I’m happy to say that the difficult decisions I’ve made, together with the Arizona Legislature, have helped put this state back on solid financial ground. For the first time in years, Arizona has a growing economy and a state government it can afford.”

In announcing the credit outlook revision, S&P pointed to the State of Arizona’s diverse economy, continued population growth, moderate debt burden and expectations of a sizable budget surplus in fiscal 2012.

“We base the outlook revision on what we view as Arizona’s improving fiscal outlook,” S&P credit analyst David Hitchcock explained in today’s report.

The S&P announcement is just the latest sign of the state’s improving economy and financial position. In other recent news:

- Arizona added 12,800 jobs in November, driving down the state’s unemployment rate to 8.7 percent. The rate is the state’s lowest since February 2009.

- Arizona has added an estimated 45,800 jobs so far this year. The state’s job growth from October 2010 to October 2011 ranked 7th best nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

- State revenues continue to outpace projections, and the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting now estimates a combined surplus of $1.3 billion between the remainder of this fiscal year and next.

“Our mission isn’t accomplished, but today’s announcement from S&P is validation that we’re on the right path,” said Governor Brewer. “We’re going to keep state government small, efficient and effective, and continue working to put in place the conditions for private enterprise to flourish and grow. I believe that 2012, Arizona’s Centennial year, is going to bring more great news for the people of our state.”

###

Small-business owners point to a way out of Arizona’s recession

PHOENIX, Ariz., Dec. 14, 2011 – Small-business owners believe Arizona needs further legislative action to spur job creation and overwhelmingly favor lowering the property tax burden on new equipment and machinery to do so, according to a special poll released today by their leading representative association.

“Small business wants job creation to continue to be the highest priority for Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Legislature next session,” said Farrell Quinlan, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s largest small-business association. “Lowering the cost for small businesses to create jobs through meaningful property-tax relief and the further lifting of the regulatory burden will help restore Arizona’s economy and put our citizens back to work.”

The NFIB survey found near unanimous support among small business owners with 93 percent agreeing our leaders should keep job creation a high priority. It also found 77 percent of small business owners favor significantly increasing the amount of a business’ equipment and machinery that is exempt from personal property taxation.

The survey based its personal property tax questions on a legislative referral being developed by Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs (Gilbert) and other lawmakers, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jack Harper (Surprise). The legislation, called the Small Business Job Creation Act, asks voters to increase the Arizona Constitution’s exemption for new equipment and machinery to an amount equal to the annual wages of 50 Arizona workers or approximately $2.3 million from the current $67,000.

The NFIB survey dramatically reveals that lowering the tax burden on a business’ equipment and machinery would lead to a burst of job creation from small businesses. When asked if Sen. Biggs’ proposal becomes law, 46 percent of small business owners said raising the personal property tax exemption would likely lead their businesses to hire new workers while 56 percent said such a move would likely result in more equipment and machinery purchases.

“Clearly Arizona’s economy has yet to recover and that’s born out in continued weak job creation numbers and Arizona’s unemployment rate remaining stuck at 9 percent,” said Quinlan. “Small businesses have historically led our state and nation out of recessions through creating new jobs and investing in the future. Small business’ message to our political leaders is unmistakable, job creation is the top issue and lowering small business’ cost of creating those jobs is a great place to start.”

The poll was conducted September 6 to October 21, 2011 with 496 respondents who are Arizona small business owners. The entire poll can be read by clicking here. Results from NFIB’s fuller, annual survey on other issues will be released in the coming weeks.

# # #

NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. More information is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.

Albert Einstein never experienced 21st century Washington politics, yet he perfectly described the current state of things; insanity. The genius reportedly wrote, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

So it goes in Washington, where each election cycle the same set of career politicians claim they can solve the problems that have been plaguing our country for far too long. These same career politicians have been in Washington so long that they can no longer see that they have become the problem.

As a fifth-generation Arizonan and a businessman who has made a career out of solving critical problems, I believe we must break this cycle of insanity. It is time to get different results not through a wing and a prayer, but by seeking a new direction, a path marked by fixing the economy, creating jobs, cutting spending, ending Washington’s credit card mentality and securing the Arizona border.

That’s why I’m running for the United States Senate.

I’m running because Washington needs business owners who have balanced budgets for a living, made tough spending choices and signed the front of a paycheck, not just the back. I’m a husband and the father of five small children. I’m the son of a small business owner and the grandson of a blue collar oil distributor. Hard work runs in my veins. I believe in the American Dream because my family has lived it.

I am, simply put, the exact opposite of the career politicians who have failed our state and our country.

These creatures of Washington prattle on for hours about the plight of average Americans. They offer up endless talking points about jobs that have vanished, home values that have plummeted and our crisis with debt. They have theories about how to fix these problems, white papers from think tanks and advice from lobbyists. What they don’t have is any grasp of the world beyond Washington.

A state like Arizona where struggle isn’t a talking point and where we face the very real possibility that for our children the American Dream will be exactly that; a dream.

We need a Senator in Washington who understands how to create jobs because they have done it. We need someone who is not part of the political machine and who has no interest in being a career politician. We need a Senator driven to take action, who understands that our border must be secure, and that it is imperative that we find a real solution for illegal immigration.

The old way of doing things – the Washington way – has been a dismal failure. The power of outsider leadership lies in seeing fundamental problems from new angles and in charting solutions that mark a new direction. I have run a successful, debt-free business and helped create thousands of jobs. I’ve balanced budgets for a living and done more with less. I will take these skills and fiscal discipline with me to Washington and use them to help get our country back on its feet.

Never before in American politics have we needed a new direction more. That new direction needs to begin in Arizona, where business as usual has squandered wealth, reduced opportunity and helped no one but politicians who want us to do it all over again.

I’m not willing to stand for that. I hope you’re not either.

Wil Cardon, a Mesa businessman, is running as a Republican for the United States Senate. For more information, visit www.WilCardon.com.

With unemployment above 9 percent for more than 2½ years, the last thing Arizona needs is a mandated increase in the price of labor. Yet, that is what we’ll soon have when the state’s minimum wage rises by 30 cents an hour, a result of a 2006 ballot initiative.

Some argue that a higher minimum wage is good for the economy since it supposedly puts more money in the hands of consumers. However, that claim ignores a fact of life: Businesses may have to put off other hiring or expansion to pay the higher wage.

Proponents of the hike also fail to consider that a minimum wage not only forces businesses to pay a minimum, it also prohibits a potential worker from taking less than that minimum. Someone, especially a teenager, desperate for a job to help the family and a chance to get a work history started, might just be willing to take less than $7.65 an hour, but that will soon be illegal in Arizona.

In a time of high unemployment, the last thing we need is to make hiring people more expensive. As is all too often the case, a law passed in good times could now make bad times worse.

Dr. Byron Schlomach is the director of the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Economic Prosperity.

Learn More:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Arizona Daily Sun: Minimum wage to rise 30 cents in Arizona

U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee 1996: The Case Against a Higher Minimum Wage