Fiscal conservatives, unite now!

Arizona Republic
April 21, 2004
Robert Robb

The big-business lobby in Arizona has become the big-spending lobby.

Last year, big business persuaded the Arizona Legislature to commit approximately $1.7 billion in future spending for university research labs and the Phoenix Civic Plaza.

This year, it is serving as a semi-informed sales force for Gov. Janet Napolitano's all-day kindergarten proposal. That would cost the state, fully implemented, $200 million a year without actually increasing access to all-day kindergarten much, particularly for low-income children. Ninety-six percent of kindergartners in low-income districts already attend full day.

This has led to considerable angst in conservative circles about the addiction the big-business lobby appears to have developed for spending large sums of other people's money.

For the most part, big business operates through Greater Phoenix Leadership, a self-appointed group of business CEOs and community leaders.

Greater Phoenix Leadership, or GPL as insiders refer to it, is the more public successor to the mysterious Phoenix 40, which worked behind the scenes and legend has it, used to run the state.

Some in the conservative movement want to try to reason with GPL, convince it of the error of its ways. They underestimate the extent to which the positions of the big-business lobby on social policy are driven by a desire for acceptance and approval, particularly from the left.

If big-business CEOs were to strongly support a conservative reform such as vouchers for low-income students, the left would yell at them and accuse them of destroying public education. But lobbying for full-day kindergarten wins the left's approval.

And the right, rather than yell or make accusations, merely frets and worries.

So, on social policy, big business rather routinely operates as an echo chamber for the left. Sometimes it tries to graft some business principles - such as accountability in education - to the agenda. But it usually gets played for the chump, as it was with the education sales tax ballot proposition, when accountability reforms were gutted after the money was in hand.

Another tactic occasionally suggested is to form a counterorganization, sort of a conservative big-business caucus. But this would also be divisive and incur the disapproval and denunciation of the left. CEOs who disagree with the big-business cause du jour tend to just keep their dissent to themselves.

There is, however, another approach that would overwhelm the big-business, big-spending lobby and dramatically alter the direction of public policy in Arizona.

Right now, there isn't really a genuine, anti-tax, fiscally conservative grassroots lobby in Arizona.

The Sun City Taxpayers Association is the only group of any significant size. The Arizona Federation of Taxpayers Associations does a useful study of legislative voting records but can't muster numbers when it counts.

The Arizona Tax Research Association is the most valuable analyst of fiscal policy in the state. But it's not a political army by design, and has to tread somewhat cautiously since many of the big-business big-spenders are members.

The Club for Growth got off to a false start on an Arizona chapter. And its focus is on elections, a legal snake pit that a true policy grassroots operation should avoid.

Arizona has nearly 2.3 million registered voters. Probably a quarter to a third of them are strong anti-tax fiscal conservatives. But their influence is barely felt in Arizona public policy.

What's needed is for some conservative angels to underwrite an anti-tax grassroots organization. Call it: Taxpayers Who've Had Enough.

Joining wouldn't cost anything; the angels would pick up the tab.

A solicitation would go out to the voter file: If you think taxes are already too high and government spends too much, sign up here. We'll tell you when the sharks are circling your wallet and what to do about it.

My guess is that a grassroots army of 100,000 to 250,000 fiscal conservatives could be gathered. And after that, things change a lot.

More of the special election nickel-and-dime tax increases would be defeated.

There would be consequential public opposition to continuing to skirt the state's constitutional debt limit.

There would be a strong voice telling legislators: Why don't you honestly balance the state's budget before taking on any more big-spending programs.

And chances are that considerably less attention would be paid to what the big-business lobby thinks about such things as kindergarten.