Those of you who have heard the radio ad currently playing may be surprised to learn that I am a “liberal politician” who “teamed up” with former Governor Janet Napolitano. I did vote for the two budgets called out in the ad, but following is “the rest of the story.”

It’s an “independent expenditure,” which means it wasn’t done by a candidate, nor is there supposed to be any coordination with a candidate that the group supports. The Homebuilders Assoc. of Central AZ, sponsor of this year’s ad supporting my opponent, actually did a mailing supporting me in 2008, but this year they’ve decided I have to go.

What happened in the intervening two years, and why do they have to go back to 2005 and 2006 to find evidence of my supposed “liberal” ways? Let’s talk first about those 2005 and 2006 votes. As you probably know, the budget is not one single bill; it is done in sections and usually numbers 12-13 separate bills. But here I’ll write about the general appropriations bill, where most of the state spending is detailed.

In 2005, the vote in the House was 52 for, 4 against, and 4 not voting. So I shared “liberal” views with 35 other Republicans who voted for the budget after difficult negotiations with the Democrat governor. In 2006, the vote was 37 for, 18 against, and 5 not voting. The 18 were all Democrats, plus one truly liberal Republican. We were able to wring many concessions out of the governor, which you can tell by the vote count were not very popular with the Democrats in the House.

The important thing to consider is that the governor has the ultimate power with her veto pen, and the House and Senate can only do so much without her agreement. Our leadership worked tirelessly, as they do every year, to craft the best possible budget that can garner enough Republican votes and the signature of whichever governor is in office. But sometimes that simply isn’t possible, as in 2008, when the governor was able to convince four Republican House members to join the Dems in passing a budget that was truly an abomination. I was not one of those four.

Just for the record, the 2007 vote was 31 to 29, with 2 liberals (RINOs) joining the Dems in voting against.

So why did the Homebuilders revoke their support? According to their representative, it was because I did not vote their way on two particular issues. The first was an issue of residential fire sprinklers. They wanted a state law that would have prohibited a city, town or county from adopting an ordinance that mandates the installation of fire sprinklers in single family homes. I thought this issue was better left to individual communities to decide whether this was a good idea or not, so I would not support their bill.

The other issue was impact fees -- and we all know what a hot topic that can be. The homebuilders wanted a statewide freeze on all impact fees, to curb what they saw as abuses mainly in the Phoenix area, those being excessive fees and the fees not being used for what they were intended. Their legislative liaison admitted that there didn’t seem to be a problem in our area, but they wanted the statewide freeze -- just another case of Maricopa County trying to impose their views on the entire state. I have never liked impact fees, believing that they add additional costs that prevent many people from being able to afford a home. But I saw this as another example of local control -- letting the local councils decide how and/or if they would enact these fees.

Apparently, they couldn’t convince enough members to vote with them, because these two bills were never brought to the floor for a formal vote. But I have been singled out so they can attempt to sway the election to a candidate they have been assured will vote in favor of their issues.

If the Homebuilders thought they had secured my vote with their support in 2008, they were wrong. I research the issues and decide what I believe is best for the residents of District 3. That’s the way I vote, have always voted, and will continue to vote.

I hope you will show this Phoenix based group that you don’t approve of their deceptive ads. Keep honesty, integrity and responsibility in the House of Representatives and vote Nancy McLain in the August 24^th primary.