Judy Burges, 2010 Legislator of the Year

(UPDATED Dec 7, 2010 with the Prop 113 vote)
Contact: Tom Jenney, tjenney@afphq.org, (602) 478-0146

AZ Legislators and Governor Rate Poorly on Taxpayer Scorecard

Gov. Jan Brewer and most members of the Arizona Legislature earned low scores on a fiscal policy scorecard released in July and updated in December by the Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP-Arizona). The 2010 Legislative Scorecard is the 26th annual report card released by AFP-Arizona, formerly the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers.

Only 18 out of 90 legislators scored as Champions or Friends of the Taxpayer, with the overwhelming majority of legislators scoring less than 50 percent and thereby earning the designations of Friends, Champions, and Heroes of Big Government.

“The legislative majority and the governor are very good at passing some kinds of conservative bills,” said AFP Arizona director Tom Jenney. “But on fiscal policy, 2010 was not a very productive year. The governor and the legislature failed to balance the budget, failed to refer a meaningful spending limit to voters, passed nothing substantial in the way of pro-growth tax reforms, and allowed a billion-dollar-a-year sales tax increase to be passed at the ballot.”

To view AFP-Arizona’s 2010 Legislative Scorecard and legislators’ cumulative averages since 2005 (UPDATE: with the Prop 113 referendum vote included), go to this URL:

http://static.taxcutsforall.com//files/azlsc2005-2010final.pdf

AFP-Arizona graded over 300 tax, budget, and regulatory bills from the 2010 regular session, as well as bills from three special sessions, giving weight to bills according to their projected dollar impact to taxpayers, consumers, and producers in Arizona.

AFP-Arizona was especially disappointed by the continuing failure of the Senate and House to pass a spending limit referendum, such as a bill to reduce the level of spending allowed by the state’s existing constitutional spending limit. “We need a spending limit that is strong enough and low enough to prevent the kind of over-spending we saw during the Napolitano years,” said Jenney. “Arizona’s deficit crisis was caused by the state government’s out-of-control spending, but the legislature and governor have failed to address that problem.”

The scorecard’s top award, and the designation of “AFP-Arizona Legislator of the Year,” went to longtime taxpayer champion Representative Judy Burges (R-Sun Cities). Senator Ron Gould (R-Mohave County) had the highest cumulative average for the past six legislative sessions. Senator Meg Burton Cahill (D-Tempe) found herself at the bottom of the list for the second year in a row, with the designation of “Hero of Big Government.” Governor Jan Brewer got a score of 42 percent on the scorecard, earning the designation of “Friend of Big Government.”

Since 2008, AFP-Arizona has given legislators advance notice of which bills would be scored as key bills during the session.