In case you missed it, the Arizona Executive and Legislative branches are embroiled in a battle over expanding Obamacare’s Medicaid program in Arizona. Here is the latest Friday poll gauging our reader’s position on this issue. Votes are scheduled in the Arizona House next week.
Friday Poll: Do You Support/Oppose Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion in Arizona?
May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Arizona Conservative Coalition Updated Ratings
May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Updated Ratings!!!
Arizona Conservative Coalition Republican Legislator Rankings
Legislative Actions as of 5/10/2013
Last Updated 5/13/2013
Narrative:
The number of bills being tracked is 255 plus 3 Strike All amended bills. One bill, HB2608, was just added to the evaluation. It was previously overlooked, but it is a terrific bill that moves the state government on the road to employee pension reform by switching a small group of employees from defined benefit to defined contribution retirement plans.
Here is what happened in the past week with bills that are part of the evaluation:
In the House:
SB1266, which provides penalties for illegal dumping of trash, passed the House. This bill, which we support, helps protect innocent property owners from people who would despoil their neighborhoods.
In the Senate:
HB2608, which switches new participants in relatively small state pension plan from defined benefit to defined contribution, passed the Senate on its second try when it was reconsidered after the first attempt failed due to absent Senators in favor of the bill. We support this bill.
HB2281, which requires tenants to be kept informed of foreclosure activity on the property they are leasing, passed the Senate. We support this bill because it helps protect defendants from being defrauded by defaulting property owners.
We have added a new feature to the ratings. There is now a section showing scoring exceptions for a legislator voting NO on a bill in order to make a motion to reconsider it. This is explained in the score section in more detail. The basic idea is that, in this special case, a NO vote is counted as a YES vote in the evaluation because the legislator is actually advancing the bill by using the NO vote as a parliamentary tactic to be permitted to give the bill another chance to be voted on.
As we near the end of the session, we remind legislators as well as the voters to beware of omnibus bills and last minute amendments that can contain legislative language that might be glossed over to sneak it past legislators. This is often done by overwhelming legislators with too many pages of legislation to read before voting or by making last minute changes that are difficult to properly evaluate before a vote. Legislators should understand that any bill containing legislative language from a bill that we gave a negative weight may get the negative weight of that negatively weighted bill regardless of how many good things are also in the revised bill currently being voted on. Since it will be impossible for the contents of omnibus bills or bills with last minute amendments to be known early enough for an announcement about how the bill weights will be reset for the evaluation, everyone needs to be aware that they will be evaluated on the final version of the bills they vote on after the votes take place. With the Governor digging in to pressure the legislature to expand Medicaid, we will be watching for that in late breaking bills as well as appropriation omnibus bills. We will also be looking for Common Core funding in omnibus bills. We strongly oppose both and will weight bills that include them accordingly.
These are NOT final scores for the session until our final report after the session ends! We encourage conservative activists to use these weekly evaluations as a way to work with legislators to achieve more conservative results in the legislative session.
The legislation causing the most lowering of scores is HB2047 combined with HB2045 which switches Arizona from the AIMS standard to the Common Core standard. Our concern is that Common Core surrenders state autonomy on education to the federal government and promotes nationalization of education. K-12 education, particularly inside a state, is clearly beyond the proper scope of the federal government, and Common Core makes federal usurpation even worse. In addition, the curriculum associated with Common Core relies on an international perspective instead of traditional study of American and World history. HB2425 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.
Other bills having a significant negative impact on scores remove significant limitations on school district spending, allow executive agencies to set fees in order to bypass limitations on the legislature raising taxes or fees, or increase government regulation of businesses.
Many Republican legislators have argued that good business regulations that “make people do the right thing” are good. This, unfortunately, is almost a perfect definition of fascism which Republicans traditionally oppose. There are always situations where we might wish others would deal with us on terms of our choosing when they are not willing to do so. Using government to force people to deal with us on our terms rather than mutually agreed upon terms is tyranny even if it is dressed up as consumer protection or professional responsibility or trying to improve market efficiency. Of course, in a free economy, people can decide for themselves what is good and make decisions on that basis as both consumers and businesses. Also, government regulations usually have unintended consequences that are usually bad. These consequences are then used to justify still more regulation when less regulation is the best solution.
To look at the legislator scores, click on legislative report.
For bills used in evaluation, click on bill weights.
For detailed evaluation data, click on detail evaluation data.
For Frequently Asked Questions, click on FAQs.
APS Wrong. Solar Saves Ratepayers, New Study Shows
May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Rooftop Solar Generates $34 Million A Year for APS. APS’ Customers – Not Shareholders – Should Reap This Benefit
(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) A new study shows that rooftop solar and net metering generate a windfall for Arizona Public Service (APS). Rooftop solar generation provides APS with $34 million in benefits each year.
TUSK (Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed) is calling on APS to give back the windfall it has made from rooftop solar energy. $34 million a year should be returned to APS customers in the form of lower rates, not put into the pockets of a giant monopoly and its shareholders.
TUSK Chairman Barry Goldwater Jr. said, “In free enterprise, those who make the investment should reap the rewards. APS has not invested in private rooftop solar. Rather, the utility has been trying to kill the industry to limit competition. And for that, they deserve no reward.”
Net metering allows people who invest in rooftop solar to receive fair credit for the power they send back to the grid. It is a simple policy – used in 43 states today – that works very much like rollover minutes on a cell phone bill. Solar is far and away the most popular source of energy in the eyes of Arizonans, but to APS, rooftop solar has become a competitive threat to its monopoly. By working to get the Corporation Commission to change net metering rules, APS is attempting to kill the thriving independent rooftop solar market in Arizona in order to protect its monopoly interests and overwhelming profits.
Rooftop solar is a free market enterprise built by the private investments of homeowners and businesses that install solar panels on their roofs. School districts have also invested in rooftop solar. Through these investments, schools are saving taxpayers millions of dollars while home and business owners are saving money on their electricity bills.
The study showing that solar provides a $34 million benefit to non-solar customers was commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and authored by Crossborder Energy. Using APS and energy market data, the study found that in addition to providing benefits to solar adopters, like control and savings, rooftop solar provides benefits all APS customers. For each dollar of cost, rooftop solar generates $1.54 in benefits to all APS customers.
There are several ways that rooftop solar benefits all APS customers. First, rooftop solar enables APS to spend less money on purchasing power and building expensive conventional power plants. Second, APS can also avoid or delay investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, because electricity is being generated at the same place it is consumed. In addition, rooftop solar saves APS money on ancillary service costs, capacity reserve costs, avoided renewables costs, and by providing environmental benefits, like lower air pollution emissions and less water use. To learn more about the study and see the full results, click here.
To learn more about T.U.S.K. visit www.dontkillsolar.com
T.U.S.K. believes that rooftop solar is similar to a charter school—it provides a competitive alternative to the monopoly. Monopoly utilities aren’t known for reducing costs or for driving business innovation, but the Arizona solar industry is. Solar companies have a track record of aggressive cost reduction in Arizona. The more people use rooftop solar, the less power they need to buy from the utilities. Energy independence for Arizonans means smaller profits for the utilities, so APS is doing everything it can to stop the spread of independent solar.
TUSK Releases New Ad – Tell Utilities Solar Won’t Be Killed
May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Don’t let APS monopolize Solar Energy in Arizona. Learn more at www.dontkillsolar.com
Medicaid Expansion: Been There, Done That
May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
To all Arizona taxpayers and health care consumers:
When it comes to the fiscal costs and human damage of expanding Medicaid/AHCCCS under ObamaCare, we know that things will turn out badly. How do we know? Because we’ve been there, and we’ve done that. Here is what past experience, here in Arizona and elsewhere, tells us about the proposed expansion:
1) The Medicaid expansion will cost much more than projected.
2) The expansion may do nothing to help low-income Arizonans — and could hurt them.
3) The so-called “hidden health tax” won’t get fixed.
4) Arizona must bargain hard to get a better deal.
5) The disgusting ploy to gut Prop 108 taxpayer protections will lead to more tax hikes.
You can read more about each of those items below, and TAKE ACTION HERE. And click onthis link for info about the health care freedom protest at the Arizona Capitol on May 15.
1) The Medicaid expansion will cost much more than projected.
None of the promised fiscal results of Arizona’s last Medicaid/AHCCCS expansion (enacted by voters through Prop 204 in 2000) actually materialized. Prop 204 backers promised that the AHCCCS expansion would save money in the state budget. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee was somewhat wiser, knowing that the expansion would cost the state money. The committee projected that covering the Prop 204 population would cost $389 million in 2008. But the actual cost was $1.623 billion — four times as expensive as projected!
And of course, the projected $2 billion in federal matching funds is not “free.” Certainly not for federal taxpayers — including millions of Arizonans. According to the Goldwater Institute’sChristina Corieri, if Arizona and 11 other fence-sitter States join the 18 States that have already said No to the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion, the country could save $609 billion by 2022. That’s real money — even in Washington!
2) The expansion may do nothing to help low-income Arizonans — and could hurt them.
Several studies suggest that Medicaid may actually hurt its supposed beneficiaries, but there has been only one randomized study (the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment) comparing persons on Medicaid to persons having no insurance at all. According to results released last week, the study has so far failed to find any evidence that putting people on Medicaid saved any lives or made any improvements in several objective health markers (blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and diabetes).
Things will get worse in AHCCCS the longer ObamaCare goes without being repealed. In Arizona, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 23 percent of doctors say they will not accept AHCCCS patients. Combine large increases in the Medicaid population with a declining number of doctors, and the result will be longer waiting times for patients. In medicine, longer waiting times often mean discomfort, disability and death. Read more about the human cost of the Medicaid expansion HERE.
3) The so-called “hidden health tax” won’t get fixed.
The proponents of the current Medicaid expansion estimate that there is a “hidden health tax” of $2,000 per family per year in higher insurance premiums caused by uncompensated care(uninsured or underinsured people using the emergency room). 13 years ago, backers of the Prop 204 Medicaid expansion made the same argument, claiming that the expansion was going to relieve the state’s uncompensated care problem. But according to a Lewin Group study,uncompensated care in Arizona increased by an average of nine percent per year during the first seven years of the Prop 204 Medicaid expansion, and the average family’s health insurance premium increased from $8,972 in 2003 to $14,854 in 2011 – a 66 percent increase.
Before you believe the hospital lobby’s arguments about uncompensated care, be sure to read Christina Corieri’s latest post: Medicaid expansion will line hospitals’ pockets.
4) Arizona must bargain hard to get a better deal.
The main reason Arizona’s Medicaid system (AHCCCS) is not as bad as that in most other States is that Arizona waited two decades to join the Medicaid program. Because we held out, we were able to bargain for a better deal – a Medicaid program that has been better at controlling costs and has provided better options for patients than in many other States.
But Governor Brewer’s team has failed to even try negotiating with Obama’s department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In its most recent message about the Section 1115 waiver, HHS said “we do not anticipate that we would authorize enrollment caps or similar policies” while still letting States get 2-to-1 matching dollars. But of course, “we do not anticipate” is not the same thing as saying “No.” Right now, HHS is in the position of having to negotiate with States, because 18 States have already said No to the Medicaid expansion, and 12 States are still on the fence. At this point, we don’t know if HHS really means “No,” because the Governor’s team simply threw up the white flag and capitulated to the demands of the Obama Administration.
Further, the Governor’s cost projections are based on AHCCCS coverage under cookie cutter Medicaid rules – in other words, how much things will cost if we capitulate and run AHCCCS according to federal diktat, without negotiating for better ways to run the program.
5) The disgusting ploy to gut Prop 108 taxpayer protections will lead to more tax hikes.
Proponents of the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion are trying to do an end-run around Prop 108, the most important taxpayer protection in the Arizona Constitution. Under Prop 108, it is supposed to take a two-thirds majority of the Legislature to raise taxes. But Medicaid expansion proponents want to allow an unelected bureaucrat at AHCCCS to raise state taxes (mainlyhospital bed taxes) by hundreds of millions of dollars per year — without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature!
In their efforts to squeeze a giant hospital bed tax (“provider tax”) through a tiny loophole in Prop 108, Governor Brewer and others are trying to pretend that the provider tax is not a tax — even though the provider tax is a TAX under the Social Security Act. They are also trying to pretend that: the provider tax is not allocated according to formula, although it plainly is; the provider tax does not have a limit, although it is limited by federal law to six percent; and, we don’t know how much money will be raised by the tax, even though the Governor and some Legislators are building budgets around the expected revenue.
History shows that removing taxpayer protections inevitably leads to higher taxes. If Arizona’s Legislators delegate to an AHCCCS bureaucrat the authority to impose gigantic taxes on hospital patients, they will kill Prop 108, clearing the way for other departments and agencies to raise taxes without getting approval by legislative supermajorities.
To block the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion and to stop the end-run around Arizona’s constitutional taxpayer protections, TAKE ACTION HERE. For more information about the May 15 health care freedom protest at the Arizona Capitol, go here.
For Liberty, Tom
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
www.aztaxpayers.org
Barry Goldwater Jr. Issues Open Letter to Arizona Corporation Commission
May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Commissioner Gary Pierce
Arizona Corporation Commission
Commissioners Wing
1200 W. Washington – 2nd Floor
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
VIA EMAIL & U.S. MAIL
Docket No. E-01345A-12-0290
Dear Honorable Arizona Corporation Commissioners:
As you are well aware Arizona Public Service (APS) has launched a hostile attack on rooftop solar, a customer choice driven alternative to its monopoly. They claim to like solar but it’s clear they only like what solar they own. Their fear of the future and the increased adoption rate of independent solar is cited for acute concern in their Wall Street filings, a clearer indication of their real feelings and true motivations.
But thanks to your leadership energy choice via a thriving rooftop solar market in Arizona is one of the country’s great success stories. Your “more rooftop solar for less ratepayer money” policy has worked to date, driving down prices and increasing adoption for residential solar consumers. Now, APS is asking you to be the first governing body in the country to reverse the net metering policy that is law in 43 states. It would be the most anti-solar move in the country for what has been the most opportunistic of solar states.
APS continually echoes that net metering is a subsidy. It is not and will be proven as much. However, since they raise the issue of subsidies, they introduce the notion that any decision on net metering prior to a more comprehensive review of all APS subsidies, would be premature. I certainly believe this to be the case. Consequently, we ask that you formally undertake such an analysis, prior to the any decision on net metering, in order to convey to the public what the true impacts to Arizona ratepayers are. And, in addition to their monopoly status how APS’ subsidies grant an unfair competitive advantage to energy choices like ours.
At every step from the beginning to the end of the electrical generation cycle, incentives in the form of preferential treatment are applied such as subsidies, price support, tax treatment, accelerated depreciation, and capitol recovery.
While the Corporation Commission does not control and did not create all of these subsidies, its constituents, the utility ratepayers, pay for all of them whether it be through their electric bills or state or federal taxes. As a result, their impacts on those you represent are real, must be understood, and cannot, despite APS’ wishes, be ignored.
Why would the Commission take action on one alleged “subsidy” without understanding the impact of all subsidies on Arizona ratepayers?
Such an analysis should include but not be limited to:
- The Price Anderson Act: This subsidy allows APS to own, operate and profit from one of the largest nuclear plants in the country while Arizona and American taxpayers are on the hook to write a blank check should any accident take place. APS has benefited from this subsidy ever since Palo Verde shipped its first electron, about 25 years ago.
- What about the tax credits APS receives on its nuclear decommissioning trusts? Across the country that subsidy alone costs Arizona and American taxpayers more than $1 billion each year. This is literally a tax break to cover the costs to close down a power plant.
- When it comes to coal what about the percentage depletion tax break which is a tax credit for depleting natural resources. This costs Arizona and American taxpayers another $1 billion per year.
- What about the burden placed upon small businesses in APS service territory to disproportionately absorb costs associated with electric service to keep rates lower for others? Should our small businesses be paying much more than their fair share so that APS can show returns for its shareholders? We must understand the true costs to our small businesses of this massive subsidization.
- Subsidies for transmission line extensions to serve new development: APS previously advocated in favor of a policy that provides line extensions to new development at no cost to the developer of the property. These costs are instead shifted onto all ratepayers so that APS can more easily add new customers and more money to its bottom line. Now that growth has accelerated it is imperative that we understand the costs of this subsidy.
- Protected monopoly status: Of course, the biggest subsidy to APS is its protected monopoly status. This is a subsidy of the highest order as the government literally forbids competition with this utility. The appropriate type of measured competition will undoubtedly be good for ratepayers yet APS seeks to crush even the smallest notion of customer choice. Before taking away all customer choice at APS’ behest, it is essential that the Commission calculate the costs to APS customers associated with continuing a system devoid of competition.
These are just a few examples. APS’ premise seems to be that APS and her shareholders should continue to receive subsidies for dirty and dangerous power sources while solar choice should be punished such that APS should make even more money when its customers choose to buy a different product? APS is standing on stilts and calling the solar industry short.
Because of their audacity – and abuse of its monopolistic privilege in trying to squash a disruptive technology like solar – it is imperative that the Arizona Corporation Commission not only say no to their outrageous requests but entertain new ones like even more competition, because of them.
Very clearly, APS intends to try and convince you to defeat any competitor and any threat just as typewriters once lamented computers. In APS’ world no disruptive technology should ever be allowed because it would be bad for them.
But like school choice and healthcare choice the tide of freedom and innovation should be our yardstick. It should not and must not be the job of this Commission to be more concerned with APS’ assured profits than accelerating the kind of competition that is best for consumers and our state’s future.
In other words, just as Republicans have looked for ways to end the public school monopoly because it has hindered innovation and achievement, so too should you look for more ways to end APS’ monopoly now.
I sincerely appreciate your service, having been in that arena myself, once upon a time.
APS’ recent actions remind us of the opportunity you now have: To say no to their requests and maintain a robust solar market in Arizona. To say yes to a thorough analysis of their extraordinary incentives and tax breaks so we may best understand the debate now before us. And to say yes to new ways to wean ourselves off the monopoly.
Republicans are at our best when we are pushing for more innovation and competition that inevitably benefits the taxpayers, as opposed to doing the bidding of companies most concerned about their bottom line, not Arizona’s.
The Best Always,
Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Chairman, T.U.S.K.
AZ Conservative Coalition Updated Legislator Ratings
May 6, 2013 by 1 Comment
Please visit our web site for the latest update of our legislator ratings.
The web page is
Updated Ratings!!!
Arizona Conservative Coalition Republican Legislator Rankings
Legislative Actions as of 5/3/2013
Last Updated 5/5/2013
Narrative:
The number of bills being tracked is 254 plus 3 Strike All amended bills.
Here is what happened in the past week with bills that are part of the evaluation:
SB1316, which creates state regulation of house appraisers, passed the Senate in a final vote and was signed by the governor. This bill, which we oppose, adds economic regulation that does not protect consumers – it’s stated purpose. The added regulation creates barriers to entry to the home appraisal business which benefits appraisers since limited competition will allow them to charge more and hurts those financing house purchases who will bear the full cost of this government interference in the free market. This is another victory for industry lobbyists at the legislature, and a costly defeat for those home buyers who need a mortgage in order to buy a house.
SB1439, which allowed silver and gold to be used as legal tender in Arizona, passed a final read in the Senate, but it was vetoed by the governor. We support this bill which would have allowed Arizonans to protect themselves from inflation caused by the federal government printing more money.
HB2347, which allows the state and county treasurers more options on investing tax receipts to be used to pay off bonds in the future, passed the House. We oppose this bill because the investment options under current law are adequate and provide better protection for the taxpayers against loss. Even though the objective of the bill is to get more interest on financial reserves with modest risk, we feel it exposes taxpayers to more risk of loss due to fraud with relatively little financial gain. Generally, adding options and flexibility is great in the private sector, but it creates too many risks for mischief in the public sector. The legislators have more confidence in the good judgment and capabilities of current and future state and county treasurers than we do.
SB1369, which provides better protection for employers against illegitimate unemployment insurance claims, passed the House and will be going to the governor. We support this bill because it is fairer for employers and generally creates a better business climate which is good for the people of the state.
SB1470, which gives additional taxing authority to municipalities, passed the House and is going back to the Senate for a vote on the amended version. It is worth noting that NO votes were cast only by Republicans. This is a bill we oppose and we congratulate those Republicans who stood up for taxpayers by voting NO. Those who voted YES should reflect on why the Democrats were solidly behind this bill.
HB2303, which gives the same overtime pay benefits received by police officers to those assisting police officers, passed the House and is on the way to the governor. We oppose this bill because it increases the costs of overtime for government employees working with the police who are not actually police officers. It is bad for taxpayers.
HB2341, which allows certain routine home renovations to be done without government approval, passed the House and was signed by the governor. We supported this bill because it actually eliminated some government regulation.
SB2178, which allows more flexibility in administering fines for flood control violations, passed the House. We support this because it improves options for citizens who are accused of violating flood control rules.
SB1445, which requires public schools to provide information about school performance to parents before their children enroll in the school, passed the House. We support this bill since it gives parents more information to make school enrollment decisions for their children by forcing public schools to be accountable for their performance.
We have added a new feature to the ratings. There is now a section showing scoring exceptions for a legislator voting NO on a bill in order to make a motion to reconsider it. This is explained in the score section in more detail. The basic idea is that, in this special case, a NO vote is counted as a YES vote in the evaluation because the legislator is actually advancing the bill by using the NO vote as a parliamentary tactic to be permitted to give the bill another chance to be voted on.
As we near the end of the session, we remind legislators as well as the voters to beware of omnibus bills and last minute amendments that can contain legislative language that might be glossed to sneak it by legislators. This is often done by overwhelming legislators with too many pages of legislation to read before voting or by making last minute changes that are difficult to properly evaluate before a vote. Legislators should understand that any bill containing legislative language from a bill that we gave a negative weight may get the negative weight of that negatively weighted bill regardless of how many good things are also in the revised bill currently being voted on. Since it will be impossible for the contents of omnibus bills or bills with last minute amendments to be known early enough for an announcement about how the bill weights will be reset for the evaluation, everyone needs to be aware that they will be evaluated on the final version of the bills they vote on after the votes take place. With the Governor digging in to pressure the legislature to expand Medicaid, we will be watching for that in late breaking bills as well as appropriation omnibus bills. We will also be looking for Common Core funding in omnibus bills. We strongly oppose both and will weight bills that include them accordingly.
These are NOT final scores for the session until our final report after the session ends! We encourage conservative activists to use these weekly evaluations as a way to work with legislators to achieve more conservative results in the legislative session.
The legislation causing the most lowering of scores is HB2047 combined with HB2045 which switches Arizona from the AIMS standard to the Common Core standard. Our concern is that Common Core surrenders state autonomy on education to the federal government and promotes nationalization of education well beyond the proper scope of the federal government. In addition, the curriculum associated with Common Core relies on an international perspective instead of traditional study of American and World history. HB2425 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.
Other bills having a significant negative impact on scores remove significant limitations on school district spending, allow executive agencies to set fees in order to bypass limitations on the legislature raising taxes or fees, or increase government regulation of businesses.
Many Republican legislators have argued that good business regulations that “make people do the right thing” are good. This, unfortunately, is almost a perfect definition of fascism which Republicans traditionally oppose. There are always situations where we might wish others would deal with us on terms of our choosing when they are not willing to do so. Using government to force people to deal with us on our terms rather than mutually agreed upon terms is tyranny even if it is dressed up as consumer protection or professional responsibility or trying to improve market efficiency. Of course, in a free economy, people can decide for themselves what is good and make decisions on that basis as both consumers and businesses. Also, government regulations usually have unintended consequences that are usually bad. These consequences are then used to justify still more regulation when less regulation is the best solution.
To look at the legislator scores, click on legislative report.
For bills used in evaluation, click on bill weights.For detailed evaluation data, click on detail evaluation data.
For Frequently Asked Questions, click on FAQs.
Jeff Weninger Launches Exploratory Committee for State Office Run
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Chandler City Councilman Jeff Weninger today filed the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State to form an exploratory committee for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 17.
Weninger is serving his second term on Chandler Council and previously served as Vice Mayor. He also currently holds a Republican Precinct Committeeman seat in District 17. In addition, Weninger has run five successful valley restaurants as co-owner for the last 17 years.
Weninger’s decision to form an exploratory committee is largely due to the numerous requests he has received from Republican leaders within the state, including Representatives J.D. Mesnard and Tom Forese, and Senator Steve Yarbrough, who currently represent the district. Jeff has the support of all three legislators.
Representative J.D. Mesnard said, “Jeff has long demonstrated his commitment to our community in his professional endeavors and through his service on the Chandler Council. He has the right principles and I’m excited about the chance to serve with him in the House.”
“I am thrilled at the prospect of Jeff filling my seat in the Legislature as I look at pursuing other opportunities,” said Representative Tom Forese. “In addition to being a husband, father, business owner, and public servant, Jeff is a proven leader.”
Senator Steve Yarbrough emphasized that Jeff has been a strong conservative voice ably representing the values of East Valley residents as both a family man and a businessman. “He will be a great addition to the state House of Representatives,” Yarbrough said.
“I am honored to have the support of so many respected Republican leaders, particularly those who have been faithfully serving this district,” Weninger stated. “I am looking forward to hearing from the citizens in District 17 as my family and I explore this important decision on running for the State House.”
Jeff is a life-long Republican and has lived in the East Valley for 20 years. He and his wife Janet have three children and reside in Chandler.
Update on Obamacare-Medicaid Expansion in Arizona
May 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
Here’s a brief update on the push to expand Medicaid in the Arizona Legislature.
Rumors are circulating that Senator John McComish is attempting to orchestrate a coup d’état on Senate President Andy Biggs as former Senate President Steve Pierce looks on with plausible deniability. Why a coup? Because Senate President Andy Biggs is the one individual holding firm against a vote on Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in the State Senate. Both McComish and Pierce are supporting Governor Brewer and trying to pave the way for her Medicaid plan. But you should also know that McComish and especially Pierce took thousands of dollars from higher-ups in the healthcare industrial complex during the last election cycle. (Biggs did not.) We are compiling the names and amounts of all the donations received by Medicaid proponents with the goal of connecting the dots. Just another example of the corporate-political incest (yes, it happens on both sides.)
Meanwhile in the State House, Governor Brewer does NOT have the votes to pass her Medicaid expansion. Proponents of Medicaid expansion are short the votes needed to require both a simple majority and two-thirds vote (Prop 108 requirement). House Speaker Andy Tobin is also holding back a vote on the legislation so you can imagine he is under tremendous pressure to let the legislation move for a vote.
At the same time all this is taking place, Democrats are getting very irritated with an effort to amend any legislation to prohibit our tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. (We all know that giving money to Planned Parenthood is an accounting game that allows them to free up other funds for abortions.) Democrats want the Medicaid bill to remain silent on tax dollars to abortion providers because they know Planned Parenthood would be feasting off the same steady stream of tax dollars “returning” from the federal government. In fact, House minority leader and likely Democrat gubernatorial candidate Chad Campbell sent an email out today expressing frustration, covering for abortion providers and urging individuals to call their legislators. His rhetoric has heated up calling social and religious conservatives “extremists,” “right-wing” and “special interests” all because they oppose using tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood.
Keep your eyes on the players in this whole exercise of corporate cronyism and who stands to gain the most “free” tax dollars.
APS Continues Pressure to Quash Solar Energy Choice in Arizona
April 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Several weeks ago when I took up the cause of energy choice via the issue of net metering, little did I realize I would strike at the nerve of the big utility energy monopolies like APS. While my intention was not to overly criticize the Republican-led Arizona Corporation Commission, several of my posts were mistakenly perceived that way when all along criticism, was meant to challenge big utilities for quashing energy choice.
Recently, Arizona Public Service Co.’s CEO Don Brandt wrote an editorial in defense of APS’ push to eliminate net metering claiming that rooftop solar consumers are a burden on other energy consumers not using solar. What’s striking in this is the audacity of APS’ top executive blaming solar users while APS pushes to widen its profit margin. The last time I checked, APS was regulated by the ACC because of its unique monopoly power in the marketplace. Thanks to the commissioners at the ACC, APS has been kept in check.
I’ve obviously struck a nerve with APS (as other utilities watch this critical discussion take place) to the point where the CEO feels the need to respond and wage a public relations battle against those who want the choice to offer back a surplus of clean, cheap energy. APS obviously feels threatened – and they should – after recent polls show energy choice is extremely important to Arizonans.
It’s time for credit and criticism to be given.
To the Arizona Corporation Commissioners I commend them for a job well done in holding the line for ratepayers, encouraging energy innovation and for the pursuit of realistic consumer-based energy choices for Arizonans. I also continue to urge and encourage the ACC to reject the pressures by big utilities like APS prowling for corporate cronyism deals.
Thanks to the Arizona Corporation Commission, solar is a great success story in our state and will be operating free of utility incentives by the end of the year. With Arizona continuing to score solar touchdowns for schools, consumers and thousands of solar jobs let’s not fumble in the red zone because APS is trying to strip the ball away.
Weekly Update – 4/26/13 – of AZ Conservative Coalition Legislator Eval
April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Updated Ratings!!!
Arizona Conservative Coalition Republican Legislator Rankings
Legislative Actions as of 4/26/2013
Last Updated 4/28/2013
Narrative:
The number of bills being tracked is 254 plus 3 Strike All amended bills.
There were some bills voted on this week that increased economic regulations or expanded the delegation of law making (regulatory) authority from the legislature to the executive branch. There were votes to add regulatory requirements to insurance agents, add state regulation of Music Therapists, and burden private providers of Department of Motor Vehicle Services with regulations that it is likely the actual Department of Motor Vehicles is unable to comply with (the private companies can be shut down, though, while the government agency cannot be). Some Republican legislators voted against these laws, but many voted in favor of them (along with most Democrats).
We have added a new feature to the ratings. There is now a section showing scoring exceptions for a legislator voting NO on a bill in order to make a motion to reconsider it. This is explained in the score section in more detail. The basic idea is that, in this special case, a NO vote is counted as a YES vote in the evaluation because the legislator is actually advancing the bill by using the NO vote as a parliamentary tactic to be permitted to give the bill another chance to be voted on.
As we near the end of the session, we remind legislators as well as the voters to beware of omnibus bills and last minute amendments that can contain legislative language that might be glossed over by overwhelming legislators with too many pages of legislation to read before voting or by making last minute changes that are difficult to properly evaluate before a vote. Legislators should understand that any bill containing legislative language from a bill that we gave a negative weight may get the negative weight of that negatively weighted bill regardless of how many good things are also in the revised bill currently being voted on. Since it will be impossible for the contents of omnibus bills or bills with last minute amendments to be known early enough for an announcement about how the bill weights will be reset for the evaluation, everyone needs to be aware that they will be evaluated on the final version of the bills they vote on after the votes take place. With the Governor digging in to pressure the legislature to expand Medicaid, we will be watching for that in late breaking bills as well as appropriation omnibus bills. We will also be looking for Common Core funding in omnibus bills. We strongly oppose both and will weight bills that include them accordingly.
These are NOT final scores for the session until our final report after the session ends! We encourage conservative activists to use these weekly evaluations as a way to work with legislators to achieve more conservative results in the legislative session.
The legislation causing the most lowering of scores is HB2047 combined with HB2045 which switches Arizona from the AIMS standard to the Common Core standard. Our concern is that Common Core surrenders state autonomy on education to the federal government and promotes nationalization of education well beyond the proper scope of the federal government. In addition, the curriculum associated with Common Core relies on an international perspective instead of traditional study of American and World history. HB2425 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.
Other bills having a significant negative impact on scores remove significant limitations on school district spending, allow executive agencies to set fees in order to bypass limitations on the legislature raising taxes or fees, or increase government regulation of businesses.
Many Republican legislators have argued that good business regulations that “make people do the right thing” are good. This, unfortunately, is almost a perfect definition of fascism which Republicans traditionally oppose. There are always situations where we might wish others would deal with us on terms of our choosing when they are not willing to do so. Using government to force people to deal with us on our terms rather than mutually agreed upon terms is tyranny even if it is dressed up as consumer protection or professional responsibility or trying to improve market efficiency. Of course, in a free economy, people can decide for themselves what is good and make decisions on that basis as both consumers and businesses. Also, government regulations usually have unintended consequences that are usually bad. These consequences are then used to justify still more regulation when less regulation is the best solution.
To look at the legislator scores, click on legislative report.
For bills used in evaluation, click on bill weights.
For detailed evaluation data, click on detail evaluation data.
For Frequently Asked Questions, click on FAQs.
Weekly AZ Conservative Coalition Legislator Eval Update
April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Updated Ratings!!!
Arizona Conservative Coalition Republican Legislator Rankings
Legislative Actions as of 4/19/2013
Last Updated 4/21/2013
Narrative:
The number of bills being tracked is 254 plus 3 Strike All amended bills.
There were some changes in scores – especially a general move downward in both bodies of the legislature largely due to votes on bills this past week.
In the Senate, HB2045 (essentially allowing the executive branch to impose a hospital bed tax) and HB2500 (which forces insurance companies to consider the government a preferred provider for vaccinations) caused Republican scores to be lower. Both of these bills have the appeal of not having the legislature vote to increase taxes or fees while allowing executive agencies to extract more money from the private sector. The government should raise money based on specific taxes and fees set by the legislature instead of hiding what big government legislators call “revenue enhancements” in regulatory authority assigned to the executive branch.
In the House, SB1223 (allowing the Department of Fish and Game to set fees instead of having the legislature set them) and SB1316 (adding state regulation of house appraisers) causes lower scores. SB1223 eliminates the legislated fees and empowers the executive branch to set fees which we consistently oppose as an abrogation of legislative responsibility. SB1316 adds more economic regulation ostensibly to protect people from bad appraisers, but will actually restrict competition in the appraisal industry, raise costs of appraisals (which will be an added cost to those financing a house purchase), and will have little or no effect on protecting the public since these appraisals are done for the benefit of lenders financing the house purchase (NOT the buyer or seller of the property). Mortgage lenders can qualify their own appraisers without the assistance and cost of state licensing. This is another example of an economic regulation sought by the regulated industry as a means of limiting entry and raising prices rather than actually serving a legitimate public purpose.
These are NOT final scores for the session until our final report after the session ends! We encourage conservative activists to use these weekly evaluations as a way to work with legislators to achieve more conservative results in the legislative session.
The legislation causing the most lowering of scores is HB2047 combined with HB2045 which switches Arizona from the AIMS standard to the Common Core standard. Our concern is that Common Core surrenders state autonomy on education to the federal government and promotes nationalization of education well beyond the proper scope of the federal government. In addition, the curriculum associated with Common Core relies on an international perspective instead of traditional study of American and World history. HB2425 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.
Other bills having a significant negative impact on scores remove significant limitations on school district spending, allow executive agencies to set fees in order to bypass limitations on the legislature raising taxes or fees, or increase government regulation of businesses.
Many Republican legislators have argued that good business regulations that “make people do the right thing” are good. This, unfortunately, is almost a perfect definition of fascism which Republicans traditionally oppose. There are always situations where we might wish others would deal with us on terms of our choosing when they are not willing to do so. Using government to force people to deal with us on our terms rather than mutually agreed upon terms is tyranny even if it is dressed up as consumer protection or professional responsibility or trying to improve market efficiency. Of course, in a free economy, people can decide for themselves what is good and make decisions on that basis as both consumers and businesses. Also, government regulations usually have unintended consequences that are usually bad. These consequences are then used to justify still more regulation when less regulation is the best solution.
To look at the legislator scores, click on legislative report.
For bills used in evaluation, click on bill weights.
For Frequently Asked Questions, click on FAQs.
Arizona Republican Icon Barry Goldwater, Jr. Gives Voice to Efforts to Save Arizona Solar Choice
April 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Effort To Stop APS From Killing Independent Solar In AZ Takes To Radio
(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) Following in his father’s footsteps as a conservative trailblazer in Arizona, Barry Goldwater Jr. is standing up to utility monopolies to preserve Arizona’s rooftop solar industry.
The voice of T.U.S.K (Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed), Goldwater can now be heard valley-wide in a new radio commercial that urges energy consumers to stand up to Arizona Public Service (APS). Goldwater and T.U.S.K oppose efforts by APS to extinguish rooftop solar in Arizona by trying to eliminate a cornerstone policy called net metering.
To listen to the commercial click here. To learn more about T.U.S.K. visit www.dontkillsolar.com
Net metering ensures that customers with rooftop solar get fair market credit from APS for any extra power they return to the grid. Conservatives in Arizona have stood up for school choice and healthcare choice, and now they are standing up for energy choice.
If APS pulls the plug on net metering, thousands of jobs would be lost. Businesses would suffer. Schools that utilize net metering will be sending more tax dollars to APS. Consumers would pay more.
“Energy choice is the American way. It’s the Republican way. And it’s the way to energy independence,” said Goldwater. We can’t allow monopolies to end consumer choice by changing the rules at the Arizona Corporation Commission.”
Barry Goldwater Jr. served 14 years in Washington and amassed expertise in energy, the space program, aviation and defense and government procurement. Goldwater was particularly instrumental in all facets of energy policy and research and development, including authoring the Solar Photovoltaic Act.
T.U.S.K. believes that rooftop solar is similar to a charter school—it provides a competitive alternative to the monopoly. Monopoly utilities aren’t known for reducing costs or for driving business innovation, but the Arizona solar industry is. Solar companies have a track record of aggressive cost reduction in Arizona. The more people use rooftop solar, the less power they need to buy from the utilities. Energy independence for Arizonans means smaller profits for the utilities, so APS is doing everything it can to stop solar.
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Arizona Stands for Health Care Freedom!
April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Updated AZ Conservative Coalition Legislator Ratings
April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Updated Ratings!!!
Arizona Conservative Coalition Republican Legislator Rankings
Legislative Actions as of 4/12/2013 Last Updated 4/16/2013
Narrative:
Two bills were added to the evaluation after being brought to our attention by members of the legislature. Although it is late in the session, both bills are well within our policy guidelines indicating the type of weight they would receive.
HB2341 reduces government regulation on remodeling homes when significant structural changes are not being made. We weighted this (+5) because it actually rolls back government regulation. If it had been brought to our attention earlier in the session, it would have gotten a higher weight because the information would have been available before the votes. However, reducing regulations on citizens is a consistent policy objective we espouse.
SB1223 eliminates Fish and Wildlife fees being set by the legislature and assigns that responsibility to an unelected board. This is an obvious attempt to bypass rules that require the legislature to get two thirds majorities to raise taxes and fees. We have consistently told legislators we would weight any bills that delegate the legislature’s taxing authority to the executive branch of government as (-10). That is the weight assigned to SB1223.
The weight on SB1437, a bill for establishing licensing for music therapists, was changed from (-6) to (-5) because an amendment adopted in the House slightly improved the bill by addressing one of our concerns. The weight of (-5) still indicates we oppose the bill as we cannot see that it is an appropriate role for the government to help certain groups of professionals and/or businesses either form cartels, restrict competition, or use the government to provide them with a seal of approval or respectability.
The number of bills being tracked is now 254 plus 3 Strike All amended bills. There were some changes in scores – especially a general move downward in the Senate.
These are NOT final scores for the session until our final report after the session ends!
We encourage conservative activists to use these weekly evaluations as a way to work with legislators to achieve more conservative results in the legislative session.
The legislation causing the most lowering of scores is HB2047 combined with HB2045 which switches Arizona from the AIMS standard to the Common Core standard. Our concern is that Common Core surrenders state autonomy on education to the federal government and promotes nationalization of education well beyond the proper scope of the federal government. In addition, the curriculum associated with Common Core relies on an international perspective instead of traditional study of American and World history. HB2425 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.
Other bills having a significant negative impact on scores remove significant limitations on school district spending or increase government regulation of businesses. Many Republican legislators have argued that good business regulations that “make people do the right thing” are good. This, unfortunately, is almost a perfect definition of fascism which Republicans traditionally oppose. There are always situations where we might wish others would deal with us on terms of our choosing when they are not willing to do so. Using government to force people to deal with us on our terms rather than mutually agreed upon terms is tyranny even if it is dressed up as consumer protection or professional responsibility or trying to improve market efficiency. Of course, in a free economy, people can decide for themselves what is good and make decisions on that basis as both consumers and businesses. Also, government regulations usually have unintended consequences that are usually bad. These consequences are then used to justify still more regulation when less regulation is the best solution.
To look at the AZ Conservative Coalition home page, click on Home Page.
To look at the legislator scores, click on legislative report.
For bills used in evaluation, click on bill weights.
For Frequently Asked Questions, click on FAQs.
Uninsured May Have Better Access to Care than Medicaid Patients, Survey Shows
April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The public relations campaign to support Medicaid expansion frequently uses testimony by patients with serious medical conditions who have lost their private insurance. It is assumed that once they qualify for Medicaid, they will easily get their chemotherapy, hepatitis c treatment, or defibrillator battery replacement.
“The messages talk only about coverage, not care,” states Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). “But the real question is whether Medicaid provides access to care.”
An internet survey of AAPS members shows that about 47% of respondents think that it is more difficult for a Medicaid patient, compared with an uninsured patient, to get an appointment with a primary-care physician. Only 26% thought that the uninsured had more difficulty. For specialist appointments, 44% thought uninsured patients were better off, and 32% thought Medicaid patients were better off. Only 2% thought that Medicaid patients had “no problem” getting an appointment with a specialist.
When asked, “How easy is it for a Medicaid beneficiary to obtain drugs, medical equipment, or diagnostic tests?”, 48% said it could be “extremely difficult,” 27% said “moderately difficult at times,” and only 13% said it was “no problem.”
Of 166 respondents, 96 were physician specialists, 63 primary physicians, and 7 emergency physicians.
Open-ended comments were overwhelmingly negative about Medicaid. Rural patients who are unable to drive or travel may have no access to care at all except through charity. Some areas have no hand surgeons, endocrinologists, dentists, or rheumatologists who will accept Medicaid. Many cardiology tests, even echocardiograms on inpatients, are questioned or denied. Many drugs, even common generics, are unavailable without jumping through bureaucratic hoops. Treatment for chronic pain is especially difficult. It may be very challenging to get non-emergency surgery approved, no matter how necessary.
“Medicaid ends up as a jobs program for administrators and quasi-medical professionals,” writes one physician. “Very little of Medicaid money actually goes to the ‘health care’ part of the equation.” Another said that “poor customer service is the norm” and “excessive paperwork is routine.”
Because it may cost more to file a claim than a physician can hope to collect, physicians may lose on every Medicaid patient, and lose less if they just see the patients for free.
Stating that “denials were much more common than approvals for appropriate treatment options and diagnostic studies,” one physician concluded that “to expand such a horrendous program is insane.”
AAPS, which was founded in 1943, is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties.
Dr. Kelli Ward: Opposition to Medicaid Expansion is Real
April 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Dr. and Senator Kelli Ward
Since January, many of us at the State Capitol have been trying to determine a common sense way to approach reliable health care for our neediest citizens. It is clear that a full expansion of our Medicaid program to 138% above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will add 400,000 patients or more to an already overloaded system. After carefully studying this complex issue, I have determined the plan is unsustainable and potentially harmful to hardworking Arizona taxpayers. We simply do not have the doctors and other health care providers to offer primary care to these new patients. When people are sick or seek care for their chronic illnesses, they will not be able to get into a doctor’s office, so they will instead turn to our emergency departments. Not only will that be much more expensive to Arizonans, but the people are unlikely to get the kind of care they need most.
The last time we expanded AHCCCS (the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System – AZ’s Medicaid); we grossly underestimated the number of people who would enroll. Three times more parents of Medicaid-covered children and two times as many childless adults signed up. Costs went from an estimated $315 million to an actual $1.2 billion. Voters were told tobacco settlement money under Prop 204 would cover the added patients, but quickly we had to dig into the general fund. Now we are being told a hospital bed tax will cover this expansion proposal and the Federal government will bear the burden of the majority of the costs until 2017. Remember, the Federal government gets its money from us – the taxpayers. While no one can predict the true future price tag, experience proves that the costs have always been much higher than estimated.
Do not let people tell you there are no alternatives and we either expand or do nothing – there are real options. We should request that HHS allow Arizona to continue our current plan for those under 100% FPL and for Arizona to determine the best way to provide care for our indigent population. We should find ways to complete treatment of Medicaid patients that are in the midst of potentially lifesaving therapy for catastrophic illnesses despite the expiration of our current Federal waiver on December 31, 2013 – we can find a way to make an exception for this small number of patients. People above 100% FPL that are not otherwise eligible for coverage are able to buy subsidized policies through the federal exchange, we should let them. We should consider providing catastrophic coverage policies for those under 100% of the Federal Poverty Level and a graduated plan for other services. Cost transparency should be our goal. We must seek tort reform to discourage the practice of defensive medicine which drives up the cost of healthcare.
Our Medicaid system in Arizona is one of the best in the country, but I don’t believe that we need to make it bigger and give control of the hundreds of millions of dollars to an unelected agency director. I will continue to seek free market solutions to our health care dilemma and find ways to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. If you only remember one thing, remember this: the Medicaid expansion plan is about increasing the entitlement to healthcare coverage without any guarantees of increased accountability, improved access to care, higher quality, or lower costs of healthcare – it is a step in the direction of socialized medicine and much bigger government.
Senator Kelli Ward
Senator Kelli Ward, D.O., MPH is a Family Physician with additional expertise in Health Policy, she represents Arizona’s 5th Legislative District and resides in Lake Havasu City, AZ with her family. She serves on the Senate Health & Human Services (Vice-Chair), Appropriations, Education and Government & Environment Committees.
