Sedona AZ (March 12, 2010) – The following is a letter sent to the Speaker of the Arizona House and copied to the SedonaEye.com (formerly SedonaTimes.com) from reader Peggy Chaikin:
Speaker of the House
Representative Kirk Adams
Dear Sir:
This letter is in reference to HCR2040 a proposal for sustainable funding for Arizona State Parks system. As you know, this proposal is fallen under the stewardship of Representative John Kavanagh, as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Mr. Kavanagh’s refusal to allow this measure to move forward by denying its placement upon the HAC agenda denies our representatives the opportunity to vote on this important legislation.
Please exercise your vision and power to move HCR2040 forward. State parks are an economic engine for the State of Arizona and HCR2040 presents a reasonable way to keep them open during difficult economic times. HCR2040 will also serve travelers well by funding rest stops. Let us keep Arizona tourist friendly; this is a vital to Arizona’s future growth and prosperity.
All Arizona citizens own the right of access to our state park system and should have the opportunity to support or oppose HCR2040 as a means to fund our state park system. Please insist upon the hearing of HCR2040 in the House Appropriations Committee.
Thank you.
Peggy Chaikin
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Many people have questioned and even criticized me for not allowing HCR2040, a state parks’ funding bill, to proceed out of the House Appropriations Committee, which I chair. HCR2040 would impose, subject to voter approval, a tax of $12 on every non-commercial vehicle registered or renewed in Arizona, with most of the money going to state parks funding. In return, the vehicles would be given free access to state parks. There are many good reasons for not moving forward with this bill.
The principal reason to not hear HCR2040 is because, as originally drafted, it clearly violates the Arizona Constitution, which states that, “No moneys derived from fees, excises, or license taxes relating to registration, operation, or use of vehicles…shall be expended for other than highway and street purposes…” Even as amended, the monies raised by HCR2040 could only be spent on park road activities, which would provide little money to keep parks open and a lot of unusable money trapped in the parks’ fund. Offering HCR2040 to the voters as a solution to park’s funding would be like selling a new car owner a warranty that only covers wheel alignments and brakes. It’s grossly inadequate.
Beyond HCR2040’s legal problems, taxing every non-commercial vehicle $12 at registration time amounts to yet another tax on struggling Arizona families trying to make it through this difficult recession. Families that are trying to keep a roof over their head and bread on the table should not be forced to pay for other people’s recreation.
I also oppose this new vehicle tax because it is based upon poor tax policy. Unlike the connection between vehicle registration fees and highway construction and maintenance, there is no logical connection between registering a car and funding a state park. The only link is that most people drive to parks but, in Arizona, most people drive everywhere. This bill treats tax policy like “staking out” a mining claim, where advocates find a source of public funding and lay claim to it by finding a receptive legislator who will draft them a bill to claim it. While that process worked well for old West mineral rights, it is a terrible tax policy.
Another reason to oppose HCR2040 is because it will be yet another Prop 105 voter-protected funding source that the legislature would be near powerless to alter or divert to higher priority needs in tough financial times. HCR2040’s funding source would be just like the one in the current First Things First program, which holds over $350 million of voter-protected funds in a bank account that the legislature cannot touch.
However, I am sympathetic of the need to provide more monies to operate state parks, which are valuable state assets and magnets for tourism. I support Representative Ward Nichols bill to tap into land preservation funds to keep parks open. I would also be willing to permit a non-ballot bill to pass through the Appropriations Committee that would authorize a voluntary $12 donation via a check-off box on either state income tax forms or vehicle registration forms. That would have none of the problems associated with the flawed HCR2040 tax and be something that people could truly vote on with their own hearts and checkbooks.