Brent Fine

Independent
Candidate for Arizona House in Legislative District 18
Phone: (480) 699-7549
Email: brentfine@fine4staterep.com
Website: www.fine4staterep.com
4134 W. Park Ave, Chandler, AZ 85226.

Age: 59. (12/08/52, Louisville, KY).

Arizona since: 1983.

Occupation: Currently not working, semi-retired; field representative, U.S. Census Bureau, Denver Regional Office, July 2011-Nov 2011; crew leader/enumerator, U.S. Census Bureau, Phoenix, April 2010–Sept 2010; special projects research analyst, Office of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, 2003-2005; publications/web editor, writer/research analyst, AZ Dept of Commerce and AZ Dept of Economic Security, research administration, 1988-2003, 2005-2009; technical writer/editor, Siemens Transmission Systems Inc., 1987-1988; owner/operator, Fine Print (desktop publishing business), 1986-1987; features editor, Daily News-Sun (Sun City, AZ), 1983-1986; sports editor, Desert Dispatch (Barstow, CA), 1980-1983.

Marital: Single.

Religious preference: Jewish.

Education: M.A., print journalism, University of Southern California, 1981; B.S., business (finance), University of Louisville, 1974.

Political experience: Wrote annual review of business, economic development, labor and occupational legislation introduced and enacted for Arizona Economic Trends, a quarterly publication of AZ Dept of Economic Security, Research Administration, 1990s-2002; worked on communications team for first gubernatorial campaign of Gov Janet Napolitano, March 2002-Nov 2002; testified before state and local legislative bodies on tax, public policy and zoning issues since the 1990s.

Memberships: President, University of Louisville Alumni Club of AZ, since 2006; member, AZ Consumers Council, late 1980s to early 1990s; founding member and former president and media relations director, AZ State Employees Assn, 1996 to early 2000s.

Interests: Walking and hiking, traveling and biking at local and national parks, photography, politics and history, investing and financial planning.

Political influence: John Dean, counsel to President Richard Nixon – a man of political courage who risked his career (and possibly his life) to testify and tell the truth about the Watergate cover-up during the Watergate Senate hearings, and who continues to speak out on current political topics in a non-partisan manner. This led to my interest in journalism and wanting to get to the truth in writing about news and current events.

Job creation measures: Increasing job training programs between businesses and universities/community colleges, such as Intel’s clean room training program at Chandler-Gilbert and Mesa community colleges; also promoting something similar to what UPS offers to part-time employees with local colleges in Louisville, KY (http://www.community.ups.com/Education/Employee+Education). Increasing public-private partnerships between universities and businesses, and government and research facilities (e.g. TGen) to develop start-up companies and other entrepreneurial opportunities.

Top Issues: Properly funding the School Facilities Board for construction of new schools and maintenance of existing schools, as required by the Students First law – currently the underfunding is causing increased costs at the local level. Creating a non-partisan commission to look at the state’s tax structure and determine what changes could be made to be business-friendly but also properly fund government functions. There has been too much ad-hoc changes (mostly cuts) to the tax system for the last 20 years without knowing the benefits (increased revenue/jobs) and problems (too many low-wage companies that offer little or no benefits moving to Arizona) created by those changes.

Prop 100 sales tax extension: Oppose. The voters were told it would last three years and if you attempt to pass another “temporary” sales tax a year before it expires, then how will the voter believe you in the future when you say the tax is “temporary.” In addition, I don’t believe the new initiative to extend the sales tax is the same as the first, in which all of the sales tax goes into the general fund. The state needs to determine its spending and revenue needs as part of a commission, then move forward with a plan to obtain it.

Illegal immigration: Strengthen the state’s law that requires employers to use E-verify (reports of only 15% of companies using it) and include subpoena power and tougher sanctions on employers that hire illegal immigrants. South Carolina enacted a law that is superior to Arizona’s because the law allows the state to subpoena employment records and hand out heavy financial penalties to employers that break the law.

Background & experience: Twenty-five years as a writer/journalist covering public policy issues in Arizona. Testifying numerous times before Arizona state and local legislative bodies on tax and public policy issues. Working for two years on Gov Napolitano’s Efficiency Review Commission, investigating ways to make government more effective and efficient. Working for two state agencies involved with collection of employment, wage and occupational data, and writing a yearly analysis of Arizona legislation proposed and enacted covering business, economic development and labor issues.

Pro-life / pro-choice: I consider myself “pro-life” in that if it was going to be my child, I wouldn’t want it aborted, but I believe that a woman has the right to make the ultimate decision, particularly in the case of rape, incest and the life of the mother. No government funding for abortion except for rape, incest and life of mother.

One last thing: As an independent, I can vote for my constituents and not how the party wants me to vote, and as a “Clean Elections” candidate, I can vote for my constituents and not what a lobbyist or other large donor pays me to propose or vote for special interest legislation. It’s time that the average voter has an equal say in how their legislator represents their district. One-third of the state’s voters are independent, but there has never been an independent elected to the state Legislature. It’s time to give independents a chance to represent the voters and end the partisan bickering with sensible solutions focusing on what’s important – the economy, schools, health and safety.

Campaign finance: public.