Three months after the 2022 election, the crybaby continues in the Arizona legislature.
If you can’t beat Maricopa County, break up.
MAGA Republicans introduced not one but two bills that would strip the Maricopa County Oversight Board of power by dividing Maricopa County into four smaller counties.
Three of the four counties will be controlled by Republicans and one by Democrats.
3 out of 4 residents can see property tax spikes. But apparently that’s the price at least some of our leaders are willing to pay you.
This sticks with counties that have refused to pitch with the Cabal on the many, often fanciful ways the 2020 and 2022 elections have been stolen.
Senate Bill 1137 Senator Jake Hoffman is a Queen Creek Republican best known for his role as one of 11 fake electors who tried to hijack the Arizona vote after the 2020 presidential election. That, and the troll farm he ran for months during his 2020 campaign, paid teenagers to use conservative rhetoric and rationale aimed at getting Donald his Trump re-elected. The Internet has been flooded with bogus posts about conspiracy theories.House Concurrent Resolution 2018 Courtesy of Rep. Alexander Collodin, a Scottsdale Republican attorney best known for his unsuccessful success in various lawsuits challenging the 2020 and 2022 elections. And they’re trying to kill the state’s very popular early voting program.
Hoffman’s bill, if passed, would go to Democrat Katie Hobbs, while Corodin’s bill bypasses the governor and her veto stamp and goes straight to the 2024 ballot.
This is Hoffman’s second attempt to divide Maricopa County, the fourth largest county in the United States and home to 65% of the state’s residents. Then-Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers rejected last year’s bill, calling it “troublesome.” But Bowers was ousted by Republican voters last year for refusing to buy into his 2020 plan to overthrow democracy in Arizona.
Neither Hoffman nor Collodin returned the call to talk about their bill. I praised you.
“Any attempt to portray this as retaliation or retaliation against the county is pure conspiracy theory,” Hoffman said at a hearing on his bill last year.
He said so with a straight face.
Corrodin, on the other hand, said: Axios Jeremy Duda said smaller counties are more sensitive to the needs of their residents.
Apparently the answer is to quadruple the size of the government and make it four supervisory boards instead of one.
And four county sheriffs, four county attorneys, four county jail systems, and four court systems.
4 county treasurers, 4 county registries, 4 county school superintendents, 4 county tax assessors, 4 county health departments, 4 county transportation departments, 4 community college school districts, etc. Such.
Not to mention the nightmare of dividing responsibility for county debt and ownership of various assets such as Chase Field and county hospitals.
Small government parties have proposed dividing the counties in four ways.
• Maricopa, which occupies most of Phoenix • Mogollon, which covers Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and parts of northern Phoenix • O’Odum, which is now western Maricopa County • Hohokam, which occupies the East Valley.
Maricopa County estimates that the division will increase government costs by at least $155 million annually in new county officials and staff alone. financeNote Attached to last year’s bill. This does not include additional capital costs or other issues. Still, it might not be too bad for residents of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.
Legislative budget analysts say property taxes in the newly formed Mogollon county could be lower than what local residents pay today, given the region’s wealth and sparse population. I predicted.
Meanwhile, tax rates in the other three newly formed counties are likely to increase.
It’s hard to say how much – and obviously, it doesn’t need to be specified before the bill is put to vote.
Normally, I would say the bill never sees the light of day, but Mr. Bowers is gone now, leaving few moderate voices among the Republicans running the place.
Few adults remained in the room to point out that the bill was not intended to make the government grow to be more responsive to its residents. It’s not about guessing.
It’s about payback for a Republican-run oversight board that refused to agree to delusions about the many ways the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen. County leaders (and judges) who relied on law and evidence, not information.
And about planning.
As you know, the next election will not go in any particular direction.
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- Co-sponsors of Hoffman’s plan to divide Maricopa County are: Also Scottsdale Rep. Joseph Chaprick, Mesa Rep. Justin Heap, Tucson Rep. Rachel Jones, Scottsdale Rep. Alexander Collodin, Marana Rep. Corey McGar, Mesa Rep. Rep. Parker, Rep. Beverly Pingerelli of Peoria, Rep. Austin Smith of Wittman.
- Collodin’s plan to present this issue to voters is sponsored by: Republican lawmakers Joseph Chaprick of Scottsdale, David Marshall of Snowflake and Barbara Parker of Mesa.
reach roberts laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.comFollow her on Twitter. @ Laurie Roberts.
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