I have my work cut out for me this week.  HB2698, creating the sanitation district for Oatman so they can once again have permanent restroom facilities for their many tourists, was finally heard in Committee of the Whole in the Senate last week.  After some discussion, much of which totally distorted the intent of this bill, it passed on a 12-11 vote of those present.  I watched this on the TV in my office, and, once this vote had been taken. went to the House floor where our session was to begin.  I found out the next day that Sen. Ron Gould (our senator for District 3) used a procedural move to amend the report of the Committee of the Whole to show that this bill had not passed after all, effectively killing it.  I still don't understand how this could happen, but it did and I'm left to deal with the consequences.

I have already spoken with President Bee's chief of staff to let him know that I want this bill brought to Committee of the Whole again.  That is possible, with the permission of the President, but only if I can show him that it will pass if it is reconsidered.  So, I'll be calling on every member of the Senate on Monday to corral every vote possible and to be sure on which day they will commit to being present for the COW proceedings.  Once I have everything in order, I'll ask for it to be on the calendar again -- and this time I'll be on the Senate floor to be sure it happens.  I take my duties as a representative very seriously and try never to miss any House sessions, whether or not we're taking a recorded vote.  But this is so important to Oatman that I feel it my duty to be in the Senate, even if the House is meeting at the same time.

Why, you may ask, would Sen. Gould oppose something that is nothing but beneficial to a community in his district?  Obviously, I cannot speak for him, but I do know that when I first approached him with this solution to Oatman's problem he indicated that he could not support any "new tax."  He is one of those who has signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to oppose any new tax or tax increase.  I did not sign this "pledge" for several reasons, one of which was that you can never predict what circumstance might be the perfect candidate for a specific tax to solve a particular problem. 

For those of you who have not been following the progress of this bill, let me recap for you.  Through no fault of the community, Oatman lost the use of the restroom building that had been available for many years.  To provide for the tourists, the merchants installed "port-a-potties" and passed the hat every month to pay for them.  In the meantime, they pursued every avenue they could think of to find funding to build new restrooms.  They looked to the Depts. of Commerce and Tourism for grants or loans and also looked for private grants or loans, all to no avail.  All of the programs in place required some sort of matching funds, and these the community did not have.  The merchants thought of increasing the sales tax rate, but because they are not an incorporated city or town, this option was also not available to them.  When I learned of their plight, I immediately thought of a "special taxing district" that would enable them to up their sales tax by two percentage points to 7.75% -- in keeping with the rate that is charged by incorporated areas of Mohave County.  But for this to happen it would take legislative action, thus HB2698.  Once the district is created and the tax collected, there would be a revenue stream that would enable the district to get a loan and build the restrooms.  There is also a provison in the bill that once the loan is paid off, the rate would decrease by 1%, and this amount would only be used for the maintenance of the facilities.

I don't agree that this is the State mandating or permitting a new tax.  The bill permits the residents to vote to create a sanitation district, and they must also vote to permit the collection of the additional 2% tax.  It gives the people the right to determine if they feel this is the appropriate action to take to solve an immediate need, and the legislation only provides the mechanism for this to happen.

I'm sure I won't be able to convince Sen. Gould to change his position, but I do believe I can convince enough of the other senators of the importance of this bill.  I  hope that next week I can report that HB2698 passed the Senate and is once again on its way to final passage.

Until then,

Nancy McLain