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July 2009

A Word from ATA Lobbyist Barry Aarons

The philosopher and baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over." It ain't actually over. Yes, the regular session adjourned sine die at 7:30 am on Wednesday morning July 1, 2009. However the Governor then promptly vetoed all of the budget reconciliation bills, signed the general appropriations bills - vetoing most of the education provisions and some other provisions - and then called the Legislature back into special session on July 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm.

It ain't over till it's over.

The AOT budget was one of the items that was sustained. It was at the agreed upon amount of a little over $10 million which is more than AOT received in the '09 fiscal year. By any measurement we did well and can thank the intercession of House Appropriations Chair John Kavanagh (Republican - Fountain Hills) and the great efforts of the tourism industry's grass roots efforts.

In addition, the Proposition 302 Maricopa County tourism promotion funds were sustained at their full amount. While an allocation of as much as 32% of those funds to the operations account of the Sports and Tourism Authority was considered those efforts were abandoned. Discussions on how to help the ASTA operations remain fiscally sound are likely to continue in the next 30 to 60 days.

Tucson was successful in enacting a bill that will allow Pima County to create a Sports and Tourism Authority in order to retain Major League Baseball Spring Training going forward. It will require the creation of a district by the Pima County Board of Supervisors as well as a public vote to enact the tax that will support this effort.

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