Mailer’s claims on Brophy McGee false
THE MEDIA: Mailer.
WHO SAID IT: Sunlight Arizona, a program of One Arizona.
THE RACE: State Senate, District 28. THE TARGET: State Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix.
THE COMMENT: “State Senator Kate Brophy McGee failed to take action to close corporate tax loopholes and ensure tax fairness.”
THE FORUM: A campaign mailer sent to voters in June.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING AT: Whether state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee failed to take action on Senate Bill 1415, legislation to increase the minimum tax on Arizona corporations from $50 to $500.
ANALYSIS: One Arizona is a nonprofit organization that runs progressive programs, such as Sunlight Arizona, which has the stated goal of educating voters on “important economic policy issues” at the state level.
Because of One Arizona’s tax status, the group is not required to disclose its donors.
As part of its campaign, it sent out a mailer attacking state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, who represents Legislative District 28. The area is a swing district that encompasses parts of north-central Phoenix, Arcadia, Biltmore and Paradise Valley.
The mailer claims she failed to close corporate tax loopholes by not taking action on a piece of legislation, SB 1415, which was introduced during this year’s regular legislative session.
The bill, which the mailer claims will help make corporations “pay their fair share,” would raise the minimum tax for most corporations from $50 a year to $500 a year starting in 2019.
In Arizona, most corporations pay whichever is larger: a 4.9 percent tax on the company’s net income, or a $50 minimum.
According to the 2017 annual report by the Arizona Department of Revenue, 33,612 of the 45,791 corporations in Arizona (or just over 73 percent) paid the $50 minimum tax in 2014.
After it was introduced in January, SB 1415 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The committee held no hearings and took no action on it during the session that ended in the wee hours of May 4.
Brophy McGee did not introduce the bill. That was done by Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe.
She also is not a member of the Senate Finance Committee. The chairmen and chairwomen of committees decide which of the bills assigned to them are heard.
Jim Barton, an attorney for One Arizona, said just because Brophy McGee is not on the committee that was assigned the bill does not mean she should not be held responsible for its failure.
“Legislators have the ability to influence legislation other than just the votes they cast,” Barton said.
“Kate Brophy McGee is an influential legislator who is capable of talking to her colleagues,” he added.
But Brophy McGee said that mailer is just an example of “dirty campaigning.”
“It goes back to that old saying: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but you don’t get to have your own set of facts,” Brophy McGee said.
BOTTOM LINE: While it is true that Brophy McGee did not “take action” on SB 1415, that is because it wasn’t her bill and it was sent to a committee on which she does not sit.
Barton said committee membership isn’t an excuse for an “influential” senator to not get a bill passed, but the fact remains there was no way for Brophy McGee to take any action on a bill she didn’t sponsor and that was sent to a committee she is not a member of.
THE FINDING: No stars: False.
SOURCES: Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017, published Nov. 15, 2017, by the Arizona Department of Revenue; Senate Bill 1415, introduced Jan. 29, 2018; phone interview with State Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, June 18, 2018; phone interview with Jim Barton, attorney for One Arizona, June 26, 2018; Sunlight Arizona mailer sent to residences in McGee’s district in June.