BASIS-Peoria was rated the nation’s #1 public high school, and a dozen Arizona schools scored among the country’s 100 best, according to.

Among all states, Arizona and Florida tied for the most public high schools ranked among the Top 100 nationally.

“This independent analysis by U.S. News & World Report confirms what we already knew: Arizona has some of the best public schools in the country,” Jake Logan, President & CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, said in a statement. “We congratulate BASIS and each of Arizona’s outstanding public charter and district schools for getting the recognition they deserve. This is truly a testament to Arizona’s excellent teachers and school leaders.”

The highly-anticipated U.S. News rankings are released annually and include a review of approximately 25,000 public high schools across all 50 states. graduation rate, curriculum, test performance, college readiness, academic achievement by low-income students and students of color, and other factors.

The BASIS charter network had 10 schools that rated among the nation’s 100 best. University High School, in Tucson, was Arizona’s highest-ranked district school and was rated #81 nationally.Public charter schools accounted for, according to the rankings.

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The Phoenix Airport system has a positive economic impact of more than $44 billion per year according to from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. 

The system, which in addition to Phoenix Sky Harbor includes airports in Deer Valley and Goodyear, supports more 246,000 direct and indirect jobs with a payroll of nearly $15 billion annually. 

The study captured data from 2022, when domestic and international travel was still very much in pandemic recovery, and yet the study shows upticks in economic output, worker wages, and visitor spending compared to a previous study in 2016. 

By the numbers 

• Visitor spending: increased 12% from 2016 to 2022, or $5.8 billion to $6.5 billion.
• Spending by domestic visitors: An estimated $831 per visitor per trip.
• Spending by international visitors: $1,002 per visitor per trip.
• Jobs at Sky Harbor: More than 47,000
• Domestic destinations from Sky Harbor: More than 120.
• International destinations from Sky Harbor: 25.

From the Mayor’s Office 

“The Phoenix Airport System is a critical asset to our community and state, and this new study underscores how vital it is to our economy,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said. “Phoenix is thriving in no small part thanks to our airports, and our continued investment in them creates jobs, supports both local and global businesses, connects Phoenicians to worldwide opportunities, and leaves visitors with a desire to come back to the Valley.” 

From the business community 

• “Arizona has all the bragging rights when it comes to its flagship international airport,” Arizona Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce & Industry president and CEO Danny Seiden said. “It’s modern, convenient, affordable, and offers destinations across the country and around the globe. Sky Harbor and the Phoenix Airport system is an indispensable part of the Arizona economy.” 

• “As frequent travelers know, we’re so fortunate to call Phoenix Sky Harbor International our home airport. But we’re not the only ones who think so,” Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association President and CEO Kim Sabow said. “In The Wall Street Journal’s of best airports, Sky Harbor landed in the no. 1 slot, and for good reason. With comparatively few delays, great service and amenities, and plenty of destinations, what’s not to like?” 

Bright horizons ahead 

• During her State of the City address last week, Gallego said Phoenix is in the planning stages for a brand-new terminal.
  
• In May, a new nonstop flight between Paris and Phoenix will join London and Frankfurt among the nonstop routes to Europe.

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A bipartisan coalition of Western state governors is seeking greater flexibility from the Biden administration in achieving the strict ozone standards in the Clean Air Act. 

In a letter from Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R), the governors cite “substantial regionally specific challenges” in meeting the law’s requirements, and say that they are “alarmed about the possible sanctioning of states that struggle to attain the standard.” 

The challenges 

The governors in their letter cite specific challenges borne by Western states in achieving the ozone standards:

• Elevated natural background ozone levels
• Biogenic contributors
•  Internationally transported pollution
•  Fast-growing populations
•  Wildfires

Mobile sources, which are under federal regulatory jurisdiction, thus limiting states’ regulatory authority. 

“Despite ongoing work by Western states to improve air quality, including through accelerating the adoption of low and non-emitting vehicle technology, improvements in the use of small off-road engines, and the implementation of innovative programs to control emissions from stationary sources, these regional challenges leave Western states with a narrow set of tools and a difficult path to meeting the requirements of the CAA and attaining the NAAQS.” 

NAAQS refers to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. 

Potential sanctions undermine stated goals 

Failure to meet the standards could result in a loss of federal highway dollars. 

Losing out on highway dollars would undermine the goals of the Clean Air Act by halting projects that could reduce emissions and would undermine the goals of the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law to modernize highway infrastructure to reduce congestion, which contributes to emissions. 

Potential solutions 

Among several potential solutions offered in their letter, the governors proposed: 

• Greater cooperation between the EPA and Western states to identify how the Exceptional Events framework can reflect increased wildfire activity, “and provide more consideration for the emissions benefits of wildfire mitigation strategies in reducing air pollution in the West and nationally”; and
• Cooperation between the federal government and states to achieve a better process for the approval of projects with air quality benefits. 

Business community: Jobs at stake 

The National Association of Manufacturers last year said proposed EPA revisions to the NAAQs

would put at risk more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs nationally and would put more than a half-million jobs in a nonattainment zone by 2027. 

Last year, Danny Seiden, the president and CEO of the Arizona Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce & Industry, said before a joint legislative committee on air quality that the challenge of pollution originating in other states and countries was particularly vexing. 

“We are being punished for what other states and other countries are doing,” he said. 

More Seiden: Stringent air quality rule will hurt our economic recovery and growth

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Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą sat down recently with Benji Backer, the founder of the American Conservation Coalition and the author of The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future, which was released Apr. 16. Part 1 of the interview is here. Part 2 follows.

Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą: You’re the author of a new book, The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future. What’s your book about? 

Benji Backer: I’ve spent the last seven years traveling to hundreds of communities, rural and urban, to find solutions to environmental challenges and see the realities and complexities firsthand. This book is a culmination of all those experiences and partnerships with amazing organizations and people to basically build out this alternative path on environmental action. 

The book details why this issue became so divided, and how that’s unnecessary, but most importantly it talks about what sort of solutions people could agree on and what short term wins we can ally on to protect our environment. 

Those things include things that aren’t that sexy or exciting compared to what has been proposed in headlines like “drill, baby drill,” or banning fossil fuels. But there are a ton of common-sense solutions that are outlined in the book that we could pursue right now, while also leaning on entrepreneurship, innovation, the growth of technology, and ingenuity in this country and across the world to solve the remainder of the challenge. 

It basically charts that alternative approach. And it calls on our leaders to do that, too. 

CBN: Are there some small wins to be had? 

Bracker: We cannot solve environmental challenges without incrementalism. This is a walk, then jog, then run, approach. Overhauling people’s lives will never be a sustainable way forward because people will never adopt that. People will always push back.  

We need to create solutions that work for people and the planet. We need to be lowering costs and increasing efficiency. We need to make people’s lives better with the solutions, otherwise it will never be adopted here or anywhere else around the world.  

So, that means incrementalism and getting some wins under our belt, getting the momentum in the right direction. And thankfully, we already have. The United States is leading the world in reducing carbon emissions. We have not done enough, but we are moving in the right direction,

CBN: Chapter 2 is titled, “Streamlining the Complicated Role of Government in the New Green Economy.” Tell us about your argument there. 

Backer: Contrary to popular belief, the government has actually stood in the way of clean energy development and pro-environmental projects. It takes 10 years for an offshore wind developer or a geothermal company to get approved. You have forest owners who cannot manage their forests because of government regulation that results in massive wildfires. 

I’m not saying that we should just take a hands-off, laissez faire approach to solve environmental challenges. But the government can also overstep its bounds and stand in the way of progress. And that’s what’s happening right now in a lot of ways. 

Even though it might not sound pro-environment to loosen regulations and allow people to manage forests and get energy projects deployed faster when they don’t have to go through as lengthy of an approval process, it actually will end up helping us. And you can see that as proof from other countries that are doing this way better than we are. You look at Europe and their ability to manage forests and deploy nuclear and other clean energy sources fast. 

Benji Backer, Founder and Executive Chairman, American Conservation Coalition

CBN: To what extent should a regulation’s effect on business be considered before being adopted? 

Backer: First, we have to turn this issue on its head; we should be relying on the private sector as the first place that we go for solutions, then we should be looking at the local government, then the state government, and then the federal government.  

Let’s say the government is an important part of an environmental solution in the energy space. It should be equipping and incentivizing the right behavior, not prohibiting, and regulating and mandating. 

When you put chokeholds on the economy, and you don’t push people in the right direction, you get bad results. 

I see the role of the government as supporting the right moves to create the marketplace for sustainable business, not to prevent against unsustainable business. We should be equipping companies to do the right thing rather than prohibiting them from doing the wrong thing.

CBN: On the topic of energy, coal is being phased out. Can natural gas and nuclear energy be part of a clean energy future? 

Backer: We can’t have a clean energy future without nuclear and natural gas. We need base load, 24/7 power, and we have to have reliable energy that doesn’t just work when the sun shines and the wind blows.  

There are a lot of parts of this country that aren’t sunny, and there are a lot of parts of this country that aren’t windy, and every part of this country that has a nighttime and doesn’t have wind or sun, so we need to be realistic about what energy sources we’re providing.  

We also have an obligation to middle and lower-class people to provide them with energy that is cost effective. Nuclear and natural gas do that in a way that also is pro-environment. 

If you replace coal with natural gas, you reduce emissions significantly worldwide. Again, that’s why the United States has reduced emissions.

People will use the energy sources that are the lowest cost option, and right now natural gas is a clean way to do that, a reliable way to do that. 

CBN: What are the opponents of nuclear and natural gas missing? 

Backer: Unfortunately, they’re missing reality. I think there’s a lot of ignorance and a lot of misinformation out there and oversimplification. 

To be anti-natural gas or nuclear is ignorant at best, and destructive — intentionally destructive at worst. 

I think it boils down for most well-intentioned people to ignorance, but also this kind of idea of NIMBYism. Not-in-my-backyardism. People don’t want even wind turbines or solar panels, but especially natural gas plants, or mining for uranium, or nuclear plants themselves in their backyards.  

But again, that demand is going to be met somewhere. So, if it’s not near you, it’s near someone else. And if it’s not near someone else, then it’s probably overseas where countries like China don’t care about their impact on the environment.  

CBN: There is a vocal counter argument to what you’re saying, which is that renewables are ready today to replace these sources. You seem skeptical of that. 

Backer: I wish renewables were ready today. I’m skeptical that they will ever be at the scale that people want them to be, but they’re not ready. They are not ready for mass adoption and to replace our energy portfolio. And people who are saying that renewables are ready to replace all other energy sources are flat out wrong and they’re either lying or they don’t know the realities.

Again, I wish that wasn’t the case. I don’t want it to come across to people that I am anti-renewables. There’s a reality here that is being missed by so many, and we, I think, forget as a country, how reliant we are on energy to survive. Intermittent, sparsely resourced energy sources are not the way forward. It would turn America backwards and harm our most vulnerable people. 

I hate when people use that as an argument to say that we don’t need renewables, because that’s not true, either. They have an important place at the table. But I also hate it when people say that that’s all we need, because that’s not true, and that’s even more damaging to society than saying that we don’t need them at all. 

CBN: Can we be good stewards of the land and still engage in industries like mining, drilling, and hydraulic fracturing? 

Backer: If humans didn’t exist on the earth with the population we have, then we wouldn’t have to have these tough conversations about tradeoffs.  

But I believe in humanity, and I believe in our ability to make this world a better place, and I believe our population can do a lot of good. And so, if we have the population we do, we will have demand for resources that constantly means we’re taking from the environment.  

We have to mine, no matter if that’s for uranium, for nuclear fuel, or lithium for EV batteries, or cobalt for solar panels, wind turbines, every single energy source product. 

Not all mining and drilling and taking from the environment is the same. We should have high standards. We should prioritize protecting the places that we’re not taking from. And we should be creating technologies to figure out how to take the least from the environment possible. 

CBN: When we think about policy in the environmental policy space, we often are dealing with the executive branch rulemaking regulations. Do you have an opinion on whether you’d like to see these issues be discussed in Congress or in the White House? 

Backer: I think the role of Congress is to find a bipartisan common ground on these issues. But the problem with relying on the federal government is that you allow it to be a political football. If it’s partisan, it’s inherently at risk of being undone. And I think Congress and the White House have an obligation. I don’t think President Biden has done a good job of this at all. And I don’t think President Trump did a good job of this at all, of working with the other side, to come up with solutions. 

CBN: When will we know whether your organization has achieved its goals? 

Backer: The moment that our organization, this book, this entire movement, has achieved its goals is the day that we return to cross partisan collaboration on the environment again.  

I believe nature is nonpartisan, and until our elected leaders understand that too, our movement has not worked. But once they do, we’ve done our job, and it’s time to move forward on the solutions. But until Americans demand that they work together on this, they won’t. 

That’s why I’m calling on all people, regardless of political ideology, to stand together and fight for these principles because we need it. We are in desperate need of a new environmental movement, and that new environmental movement will be successful when we’re seeing it in policy and when the environment is no longer part of our culture wars.

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In an by the Phoenix-based law firm Snell & Wilmer, the State of Arizona has been trying to advance a novel and troubling concept through a recent “test case”: holding corporate leaders personally liable when their company violates the law, even if they did not participate, know about, or approve of the underlying actions. This idea, known as the “responsible corporate officer doctrine,” is a judge-made theory of liability similar to piercing the corporate veil. Adopting this doctrine would upend traditional legal protections and create uncertainty for business leaders across the state.  

In State v. Tombstone Gold & Silver, Inc., the State of Arizona sued a mining company and three of its individual officers for violating a consent order. In its complaint, the State sought liability and damages against the officers under the responsible corporate officer doctrine even though the State had no evidence that the officers directed—or knew about—environmental law violations. In fact, the officers were not even parties to the consent order that the State accused them of violating. In other words, the State sought to establish a form of strict liability, where officers of the company were automatically personally liable for a company’s actions. 

Fortunately, the court quickly rejected the State’s argument, recognizing the State was trying to vastly expand liability for corporate officers. It noted that no published Arizona case has ever adopted the responsible corporate officer doctrine and declined to take the State’s invitation to expand officer liability beyond what the environmental law statutes already provide. It dismissed the officers from the case and invited a petition for their attorney fees and costs.  

The court was right to do so. The responsible corporate officer doctrine would not only erode the corporate structure’s safeguards but also deter investment and innovation in Arizona.   

Business leaders already make difficult decisions every day to manage risk, meet client needs, and deliver returns to shareholders. These tasks are difficult enough without having to worry about things outside their control resulting in personal liability. Introducing a blanket liability standard for actions beyond their control would only add unnecessary burdens and hinder economic growth. 

Arizona has worked hard to develop a reputation as a business-friendly state. Threatening corporate officers with personal liability for actions the officers did not direct risks this reputation. Further, it signals that Arizona may not be the predictable, stable, and reasonable policy environment to which businesses have grown accustomed.  

For now, corporate officers remain safe from the State’s attempts to erode the corporate form. Hopefully, Arizona’s courts keep it that way. 

Nate Curtisi is chief counsel for the Arizona Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce & Industry.

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With regular committee hearings now wrapped up for the legislative session, the state Legislature returned to the Capitol Wednesday under a one-day-a-week schedule. 

The House and Senate will conduct floor sessions to determine the fate of bills that have made their way through the committee process in both chambers, deciding whether to send them to the governor to be signed or vetoed. 

State budget 

The big remaining item on the to-do list is to hash out a fiscal year 2025 state budget amid a projected significant shortfall. The last Finance Advisory Committee report projected a combined fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025 shortfall of $1.7 billion, although lawmakers will receive new FAC projections later today.

The budget picture means that legislators who are backing bills with big spending implications are facing major headwinds, as legislative leaders are looking to cut spending to bring the budget into balance. 

Bills that have been tagged as “money bills” – meaning they would add new spending – are stalled in each chamber’s Rules Committee and won’t move to a floor vote unless they are folded into the multi-bill package that compromises the state budget.  

Agency continuations 

Also left for the Legislature to address are agency continuations. 

The Legislature periodically reviews whether to renew state agencies or to shutter them. The process involves assessing agency audits performed by the state auditor general and considering recommendations from oversight committees known as committees of reference that take testimony from the auditor general and agency officials. 

This year’s major continuation involves the Arizona Commerce Authority.

The state House of Representatives Appropriations Committee last month voted to extend the Arizona Commerce Authority for an additional five years.

That bill now awaits consideration by the full House. If passed, it would have to return to the Senate for a final vote of that chamber.

The ACA continuation is strongly supported by a broad coalition of the business community.

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SRP has provided water and power to the Valley for more than 100 years, and that experience continues to serve our customers well.

SRP and our 5,000 employees have long been recognized as one of the top utilities in the nation and we are at the forefront of driving extraordinary changes to the power grid, our watershed and the greater Phoenix community while always doing right by our customers.

This means ensuring reliable, affordable and sustainable power and water now and for generations to come.

Reliability and Affordability 

As a not-for-profit, community-based utility, SRP has among the lowest electricity rates in the southwestern United States and the lowest rates of any major utility in the state. This can be attributed to careful planning by the company and our publicly elected Board of Directors, and our customers have made it clear that we must continue to prioritize affordability and reliability even as we substantially grow our electric system.

SRP has among the best reliability rankings in the nation, and we continue to invest in equipment and technology to improve our grid.

David Rousseau, president of the SRP board of directors

Responsible Decarbonization 

SRP is taking significant, industry-leading steps to decarbonize the power it generates for one of the fastest-growing service territories in the country. In the last year alone, we’ve doubled the amount of utility-scale solar energy on the grid and are proud of the fact that our customers are benefiting from enough clean energy to power nearly 500,000 homes. Five additional solar facilities are currently under development. When they are operational by the end of 2027, nearly half of our generation will be carbon free.

And we aren’t close to being done. Our Board recently approved more ambitious sustainability goals including net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To help reach this goal and meet the projected 56% increase in energy needed to serve our customers over the next 10 years while also retiring most of our coal generation, SRP will double the size of our current electrical system. We’ll do this by adding new carbon-free generation and new storage resources by 2035.

To maintain a balanced, low-cost grid and to meet the unique challenges of our Valley, new fast-ramping natural gas units will also be part of SRP’s future generation mix. This technology allows SRP to meet our customers’ energy needs and better integrate intermittent renewables, which are critical to maintaining our industry-leading reliability that helps keep our customers safe, especially during Arizona’s hot summer days (and nights).

SRP will also continue to support our growing number of customers who choose to add rooftop solar and batteries to their homes. We offer a variety of ways to help evaluate potential projects and avoid scams, including a rooftop solar calculator and a list of preferred solar installers.

Jim Pratt, SRP general manager and CEO.

Water Resiliency 

SRP was created when a group of Phoenix-area landowners pledged their land as collateral for a federal loan to build Theodore Roosevelt Dam, establishing a regular flow of water to the Valley and ensuring our long-term growth.

SRP now supplies water to almost half of the Phoenix region. Even though our water comes from a watershed that is expected to be less impacted by climate change than the Colorado River, we continue to collaborate with state agencies, cities and tribes to develop programs and infrastructure that will help maximize the Valley’s future water supply.

These include increasing storage capacity on the Verde River and the SRP Central Arizona Project Canal Interconnection, allowing water to be moved to communities that need it. We are also seeking approval to extend the amount of time SRP can hold water in a portion of the Flood Control Space at Roosevelt Dam to put more of it to use, particularly during times of heavy precipitation like we experienced last winter.

SRP and our partners will continue to plan for future growth and variable climate conditions to help ensure reliable and well-managed surface water and groundwater supplies.

While we’ve experienced incredible change over the last 100 years, one thing has remained constant: We are driven to always make decisions in the best interests of our customers and the communities we serve. This commitment is ongoing and will become even more important to ensure reliable, affordable and sustainable power and water as we address critical challenges facing our company and our state.

David Rousseau is president of the SRP board of directors. Jim Pratt is SRP general manager and CEO.

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Monday night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four championship game in Glendale marks the culmination of a whirlwind four days of events in the greater Phoenix area that will deliver an estimated $250 million-$300 million positive economic impact according to a from the Common Sense Institute. 

This is the second NCAA Men’s Final Four held in Arizona, solidifying the state’s place as a major destination for sports tourism and events like the Super Bowl, the Waste Management Open, and various golf, fencing, and other major championships. Thanks to the Diamondbacks, Phoenix has also hosted World Series games. 

“Hosting the NCAA Men’s Final Four is a monumental task that requires the cooperation of countless stakeholders, from local businesses to government agencies,” Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association President and CEO Kim Sabow said. “This year’s tournament is not only showcasing Arizona’s world-class facilities and hospitality but is also reinforcing the state’s reputation as a premier destination for major sporting events.” 

Key findings from the report include: 

• $250-$300M: Estimated combined economic impact of activity at Arizona’s four days of Final Four events.
• $20 billion: Contribution of the combined Sports and Tourism sector to Arizona’s Real Gross Domestic Product in 2024 (+8.6% year-over-year).
• $12.7 billion: Estimated direct sales by Arizona’s hotels, casinos, sports and other professional performance venues, and other components of the state’s Sports and Tourism sector in 2024.
• 320,000: Number of people directly and indirectly employed by Arizona’s Sports and Tourism sector, or 10% of the state’s total workforce.
• 3.5%: Projected average annual growth rate of the sector over the next decade

Big visitor numbers

The average attendance at the Final Four games between 2010 and 2019 is 72,733. Attendance has been recovering slowly since 2020. In 2022, average attendance per-game was 69,800, and in 2023 attendance was 72,400. 

The average attendance for a concert at State Farm Stadium over the same period has been about 52,000, which means basketball over these last few days will have delivered an additional 20,000 more fans to Glendale to eat and drink at restaurants, shop, and spend money on recreational activities before and after the main event. 

CSI estimates that 150,000 people will attend the Men’s Final Four and surrounding events in Phoenix over three-and-a-half days beginning April 6th, with 58,500 (39%) of those attendees visiting from out of state. 

Given historical average expenditure data, these visitors spend:

• $73 million on hotels and lodging in Phoenix
• $12.9 million on meals
• $2.4 million on drinks
• $29.6 million on transportation and airfare
• $43.7 million on game tickets over the course of the event weekend

“The NCAA Final Four is a catalyst for economic opportunity,” said Kamryn Brunner, research analyst at CSI Arizona. “Our findings are once again showing the vital role that sports and tourism play in Arizona’s economy, contributing billions in GDP and supporting thousands of jobs across the state.” 

CSI estimates that this new spending will result in approximately $15 million in new sales tax revenue for state and local jurisdictions. 

The Purdue Boilermakers and the University of Connecticut Huskies, both no. 1 seeds, tip off at 6:20 pm tonight at State Farm Stadium.

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The state House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Monday voted to extend the Arizona Commerce Authority for an additional five years, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing legislative efforts to ensure the state’s lead economic development agency can continue its successful efforts to attract jobs to the state.

Last month, the same committee approved a bill by Rep. David Livingston (R-Peoria) to extend the ACA for four years, which was approved by the House with bipartisan support.

That bill, however, never received a hearing in the Senate.

Instead, the Senate Government Committee took up a measure to significantly alter the ACA’s structure and functions. The proposal was strongly opposed by the business community, whose advocates feared the potential negative repercussions of dismantling certain programs and reallocating functions.

Monday’s committee vote was made possible through the utilization of a strike-everything amendment, which entirely replaced bill language on an unrelated subject initially proposed by Sen. David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista).

Testimony in support of the five-year extension came from ACA President and CEO Sandra Watson and Arizona Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce & Industry President and CEO Danny Seiden, appearing in front of the committee for the second time, having previously spoken in favor of the original House bill.

Watson cited the ACA’s latest economic development wins, including the recent announcement that Intel had secured $20 billion in CHIPS Act funding as part of the company’s major expansion at its Chandler Ocotillo campus.

“We’re proud to work with our partners to win this project, which creates over 3,000 jobs for Arizonans,” she said.

Seiden said he thinks the latest proposal to extend the ACA for five years rather than the original four is wise.

“I think there’s value in taking this agency’s continuations into an odd (numbered) year when we’re not in the middle of a campaign, when we’re not in the middle of a highly political season,” he said. Seiden said the ACA should be outside the realm of politics, so the economy won’t become “collateral damage.”

The amended bill now heads to a vote by the full House, offering renewed hope for the ACA’s extension.

Assuming the House will again vote to extend the ACA, it will progress to a vote of the full Senate without the need for further committee deliberation.

Once passed by the Senate, it will head to Governor Katie Hobbs for her signature. The governor has underscored the importance of renewing the ACA, citing it as a priority for the current legislative session.

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The state Senate Government Committee on Thursday is scheduled to consider an amendment to a bill that would dismantle the Arizona Commerce Authority, the state’s lead economic development agency. 

If passed, the bill would eliminate several tax credit programs, resulting in a massive tax increase and slamming the brakes on projects across the state, including in rural communities. 

Danny Seiden, the president and CEO of the Arizona Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce & Industry, blasted the proposal. 

“This amendment would be laughable were it not for its potentially catastrophic consequences,” he said. 

The state House last month passed a bill to extend the life of the ACA by four years, but that bill has yet to get a hearing in the Senate. 

“We were hopeful that the state Senate would quickly follow suit,” Seiden said. “Unfortunately, senators instead have proposed an amendment that would effectively gut the ACA, overturn years of progress in attracting jobs to the state, raise taxes on job creators, and inflict tremendous harm on the Arizona economy.” 

Today’s committee hearing comes one day after President Biden was in Phoenix to celebrate the expansion at Intel’s Ocotillo campus in Chandler. 

Arizona has become an advanced manufacturing juggernaut since the formation of the ACA more than a decade ago and has emerged as a global semiconductor manufacturing hub. 

The president was in Arizona last year to mark the $40 billion investment at a north Phoenix site by semiconductor maker TSMC, a project the ACA led. 

Tax credits eliminated 

The ACA administers several tax credit programs, among them programs that encourage firms to invest in new, good-paying jobs, as well as the construction of new facilities. 

Under the proposal, those programs would be eliminated, delivering a tax increase of more than $145 million over five years. 

Rural broadband expansion halted 

The ACA oversees the management of millions of dollars to expand broadband across rural Arizona, which advocates say is essential for communities outside the metropolitan areas to attract jobs. 

Under the Senate proposal, that function would shift exclusively to a department under the direction of the governor, putting current expansion projects in jeopardy. 

“It’s as if this amendment were intended to eliminate jobs in rural Arizona,” said Julie Pastrick, president and CEO of the Greater Flagstaff Ć߲ĘÖ±˛Ą of Commerce. “Our financial resources are limited in Flagstaff and all across rural Arizona, which leads to a great collaboration working with the ACA to encourage new business attraction. It’s baffling that legislators want to end a decade of very successful collaboration with communities statewide and, instead, put our forward momentum on economic mobility at critical risk.” 

Pastrick pointed to the ACA’s involvement in the attraction of UACJ Automotive Whitehall Industries to Flagstaff in 2021. The auto parts manufacturer is seen as a critical component of Arizona’s red-hot electric vehicle supply chain. 

“Thanks to the partnership between Flagstaff and the ACA, our community is now home to hundreds of high-paying jobs that could have otherwise gone somewhere else,” she said. 

Statewide impact

Ted Maxwell, the president and CEO of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council said the proposal would harm his region’s job attraction efforts.

“If you consider the cooperation between the ACA, Sun Corridor Inc. and our other regional economic development organizations, it’s never been better,” he said. “Tucson and the surrounding area are more economically competitive today than we were prior to the ACA’s formation.”

As an example, Maxwell pointed to the $1.2 billion capital investment by American Battery Factory, a battery maker constructing a two-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Tucson.

“These are the types of investments that other states are clamoring for,” Maxwell said. “But thanks to the ACA, Tucson was positioned as the best place to win the estimated 1,000 high-paying jobs that are coming with this project. I’d hate to think what would have happened without the ACA’s leadership.”

A new bureaucracy 

Also included in the bill is language to overhaul the ACA’s governance structure to revert to a model more like the Department of Commerce that preceded it. 

That formulation was viewed by the business community as ineffectual, prompting the creation of the ACA following the Great Recession and its public-private governance structure. 

Assuming the bill passes the Government Committee, it will head to the Rules Committee and then to a vote of the full Senate. Since the bill calls for raising taxes, it would need a two-thirds vote of support to pass. 

The bill would require a final vote in the House before it could proceed to the governor’s desk, where it would then be vetoed.

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