Page 21 - the NOISE October 2015

newsbriefs By j. KenDAll perKinson
ArizonA GeneAloGy Goes DiGitAl
The Arizona state Library has announced that it is making about 5,000 books related to genealogy and family research available for free online. Arizona is the 35th state to provide records to the Mormon nonprofit FamilySearch.org. The state Library will physically ship the books at no cost to Arizona taxpayers so that they can be scanned in, page by page, over the course of six months. The content will then be uploaded to the web for researchers to access from anywhere in the world.
Dennis Brimhall, CeO of family Search international, said, “we are happy to join with the Arizona state Library and Archives to digitally preserve and make some of their historical book collections more accessible to their patrons worldwide. each of the books contains countless rich stories about ancestors that are just waiting to be more readily discovered and told. we are excited to help patrons begin making those connections through this project.”
republicAn presiDentiAl cAnDiDAtes in
ArizonA tele–town HAlls
Presidential candidates Carly fiorina, who received a significant bump in the last Republican primary debates, and Dr. ben Carson will be holding 30–minute telephone town hall meetings on their border security policy in the coming weeks. The Arizona Security and Prosperity Project (ASPP), a nonprofit focused on conservative policy in the state, will be hosting the events.
In announcing the interviews, AsPP executive director Brian seitchik said, “with near impunity, untold thousands have streamed across Arizona’s border — creating significant fiscal and security difficulties for state and local governments while the federal government disregards the severity of the problem. These telephone halls will offer candidates a serious platform to explain how they will secure our
border and answer citizen questions directly.”
The candidate interviews lend some political weight to the relatively new AsPP, which focuses on both border security and economic issues. The organization began an educational video series last month, landing a conversation with former governor Jan Brewer about the Obama administration’s perceived failures on these issues. Chaired by Pinal County sheriff Paul Babeu, AsPP looks to be an up–and–coming voice for conservative
policy in Arizona.
Details on the town hall sessions will soon be available
at arizonasecurityandprosperityproject.com.
MArijuAnA leGAlizAtion GAins steAM
The nonpartisan Grand Canyon institute (GCi) released a study in september predicting more than $60 million in annual revenue for the state if voters decide to legalize marijuana in 2016. A number of marijuana reform groups have already been busy obtaining signatures for a legalization ballot initiative in november of next year.
Details of the “Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act” have already been laid out. The proposed statute would allow Arizona residents age 21 and up to grow as many as six plants on their own property, but also creates a new state government agency — the Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control — to oversee and regulate sale of the plant by licensed businesses.
The law would levy a 15% tax on all sales of marijuana, which would be allocated to education and health care. Using Colorado as a baseline, the GCI analysis factors in varied marijuana use between the states, population differences, and the higher proposed tax rate for Arizona to come to its conclusion:
“GCI estimates that, if the initiative were fully phased in now with dispensaries operating as in Colorado, the tax would generate $64 million; $25.5 million to K–12 education, $25.5 million to help fund all–day Kindergarten and $13 million to the Department of Health services.”
while political observers expect any vote on marijuana legalization to be very close, the state’s current education budget woes may help tip the scales in favor of new revenue. Much of the concern surrounding Governor Doug Ducey’s education plan is its rapid decrease in funding in the year 2022. GCI predictions indicate that marijuana taxation would represent a 20% boon to the total paid to schools that year, which will be $300,000 if Mr. Ducey’s plan is adopted by voters.
| J. Kendall Perkinson keeps his ear to the ground. news@thenoise.us enewsbrief
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