Friday, January 10, 2014

Will you tolerate Steve Yarbrough's brazen self-service?

The last business day prior to the start of the 2014 regular session of the Arizona Legislature has now closed.

Just days ago, Sen. Steve Yarbrough (R-LD17/Chandler) was the subject of a KPHO Channel 5 investigative report showing he paid himself, or corporations owned or controlled, more than $700,000 in one year from money that was diverted away from the state general fund.

Yarbrough currently sits as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee AND the Senate Ethics Committee.

What does it saw about the corruptness of the GOP dominated Arizona Legislature when THIS guy is chairman of the Finance committee AND the ETHICS committee?

Our good friend John Kavanagh (R-LD23/Fountain Hills), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, seemed personally disturbed by accusations of legislative corruption raised in the wake of the KPHO investigation on Yarbrough.

Anyway, on this last business day before the start of the legislative session, Yarbrough filed another bill related to his gravy train, er... STOs, or School Tuition Organizations. SB1048 (if passed) amends Arizona's tax laws by adding ANOTHER section allowing ANOTHER tax credit for donations to STOs.

School Tuition Organizations divert funding away from the state general fund and away from public education. They've been sold to Arizonans as a way to provide families with more K-12 educational choice for their children.

By the way, Yarbrough's skimming is not the only way STOs are abused.

If John Kavanagh wants to demonstrate how the GOP dominated Arizona Legislature may not be corrupt, putting as STOP to Yarbrough's abuses and other loopholes in STOs would be a darn good place to start.

Yarbrough's SB1048 is already on the agenda to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, January 15. Don't let them fast track another way to cheat Arizona's children by further undermining public education funding.

Don't wait until Wednesday. Call (leave a firm, but polite voice mail (remember, their assistant's take the calls and write down the messages left by voice mail, treat them with kindness)) and send an email message today! Tell them NO MORE undermining of public schools.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee are:
Democrats                         Email:                                       Office phone:
Cajero Bedford                   ocajerobedford@azleg.gov       (602) 926-5835
Meza                                     rmeza@azleg.gov                        (602) 926-3425
Farley                                    sfarley@azleg.gov                      (602) 926-3022
and Republicans
Worsley                                  bworsley@azleg.gov                 (602) 926-5760
Reagan                                   mreagan@azleg.gov                 (602) 926-5828
Yarbrough, Chairman        syarbrough@azleg.gov            (602) 926-5863
(David) Farnsworth            dfarnsworth@azleg.gov          (602) 926-3020

Please join me and put the self-servatives on notice today.

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