Rock Music Theme Park Could Cost Az Taxpayers

We received the following email from Tom Jenney, Az Federation of Taxpayers. We thought it important enough to post it. We hope the taxpayers don't get stuck with this potential boondoggle.
Art
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Dear Arizona Taxpayer:

Right now, members of the Arizona Senate are debating whether or not to award a private company the privilege of issuing $750 million in tax-free bonds, so that it can build a rock music theme park in Eloy.

If the project turns out to be a flop, and if tourists fail to come to Eloy in sufficient numbers, the state could have to pay back creditors, or it could jeopardize its bond rating, making it more expensive in the future to borrow money for traditional projects, such as road construction.

But the economic downsides of the Decades Theme Park deal are not nearly as important as the question of principle at stake: whether or not the government should not be handing out special privileges to chosen companies. The answer to that question is clearly, “NO.” The government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in business.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR, AND ENCOURAGE HIM OR HER TO OPPOSE THIS BILL.

WE ARE ESPECIALLY CONCERNED ABOUT ANY SENATOR WHO VOTED YES (“Y”) ON THE EARLIER VERSION OF THE BILL:

http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/sb1450.sthird.1.asp

In response to a query from the Senate, AFP Arizona hereby announces that the bill, SB1450, will be included in our 2008 Legislative Scorecard. Given the potential yearly fiscal impact, and the importance of the principle at stake, the bill will be a 50-point bill. In last year’s scorecard, that would have been just under 5 percent of the total, but there are fewer bills this year, so SB1450 could weigh as much as 10 percent of the overall score.

For more information about why SB1450 is a bad bill, see the pieces from the Goldwater Institute and the AZ Free Enterprise Club .

Tom Jenney

Arizona Director

Americans for Prosperity

(Arizona Federation of Taxpayers)

www.aztaxpayers.org

tjenney@afphq.org

(602) 478-0146