Business groups move to center

Scottsdale Rep. Eric Meyer (left) shares a laugh with Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and CEO Glenn Hamer during a luncheon on June 22. Meyer is one of eight Democratic lawmakers the organization is endorsing for reelection based on his prioritization of business issues. (Photo by Ryan Cook/RJ Cook Photography)

Arizona’s business community has sent a message to legislative candidates: Commit to a pro-business agenda, and stop wasting time with kooky stuff like “birther” bills.

In exchange, candidates who cooperate may get tons of cash for their campaigns and the support of chambers of commerce across the state.

So far, fiscally conservative Republicans who are more interested in business than social agendas – and several Democrats – are reaping the rewards of a business community that appears to be spending more freely on political campaigns now that Clean Elections matching funds have been blocked.

A June 15 fundraiser at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, dubbed “12 in ’10,” filled the campaign coffers for some of the more centrist incumbents and candidates in this year’s legislative races, and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s election-year endorsement list is mostly devoid of lawmakers who champion conservative causes.

Those shunned by the business community include likely and proven supporters of Sen. Russell Pearce, the state’s foremost immigration hawk who is vying to become the next Senate president, as well as conservative incumbents who have supported some of the most bizarre legislation of the past two years.

With so much political discourse focused on illegal immigration, guns in bars and presidential candidates’ birth certificates, groups like the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce are worried that the state’s faltering economy is taking a backseat to social issues.

“Would we rather see a jobs bill go through than a birther bill? That’s a fair statement,” said Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The 12 in ’10 fundraiser at the Biltmore – the no-host event was organized by business groups – reportedly drew about $275,000 for some of the more centrist members of the Legislature, such as Republican Bill Konopnicki, who got the chamber’s nod in the Senate primary against Sylvia Allen, and Democrat Justin Johnson, who is gearing up to run against Republican Linda Gray for Senate in Legislative District 10.

Todd Sanders, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, said business groups aren’t necessarily looking for moderates or centrists, but are pushing to elect candidates whom they feel prioritize business issues, regardless of where they fall on the social issue spectrum. It’s been a gradual shift, he said, but was invigorated by events of the past two years that showed the busienss community exactly what can happen when lawmakers’ priorities lay outside of the business world.

“I think there is a deliberate move toward supporting candidates who, A) understand business, and then B) once they’re elected they support business,” Sanders said. “The concern for us is that there has been a shift, I think, at the Capitol to largely focusing on social issues and things like gun issues, immigration. And what we’re concerned about, what we think is important, is jobs, the production side of the economy.”

Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, said business leaders are becoming increasingly concerned with “political dogma,” and the precedence it is taking over economic issues.

Broome said measures such as S1070, which led to Arizona’s new immigration law, distracted the Legislature at a time when it should have been working on measures to boost Arizona’s economy. While many business leaders support the immigration law, Broome said, they didn’t like they way it defined the 2010 legislative session, especially considering the Legislature’s inaction on economic recovery issues.

An economic recovery package, better known as the jobs bill, that included corporate tax cuts, tax credits and other business incentives passed the House but died in the Senate over disagreements on whether Arizona could afford tax cuts at a time of declining revenue. As a result, nothing in the bill was passed.

“Every legislature in the country has a few ideological issues that rise to the surface, become part of the debate and in some circumstances may become law. But our legislative session has only been about that, and I think our business leaders are starting to grow very concerned about Arizona’s future, short-term and long-term,” Broome said.

Which candidates get elected is not business leaders’ only concern. They also worry about who those successful candidates select when it comes time to choose legislative leadership. In 2009, for example, Senate Majority Whip Pam Gorman was one of the few Republican holdouts on a budget deal that would have eliminated the state property tax, a stance prompted by a provision that would have put a temporary sales tax increase on the ballot.

The stakes may be even higher in 2011. Pearce, the architect of S1070, is seeking the Senate presidency. Business leaders worry that a Senate run by Pearce will push more illegal immigration bills, which have their share of opponents in the business community, and will champion social issues over economic development.

Many of the candidates who attended 12 in ’10, including Konopnicki, Rep. Rich Crandall, Rep. Adam Driggs, Sen. John Nelson, are facing opponents who are viewed as more likely to support Pearce’s bid for the Senate’s top leadership post. Sources close to the business community say there is a lot of concern over a bill Pearce wants to sponsor next year that would bar the state from giving birth certificates to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, and business leaders said privately that they don’t want a Senate president or more lawmakers who will support that type of legislation.

Not everyone sees a shift in the business community’s attitude toward the type of candidates it supports, but most feel that chambers of commerce and likeminded groups are getting more aggressive in their support for those candidates.

Lobbyist Stan Barnes, a former lawmaker, said business groups have always supported the types of candidates who were invited to 12 in ’10. But they haven’t always supported them as vigorously as they are this year.

Barnes said the business community has talked for years about forming a unified front at election time, but has never really pulled it off until now.

“I think candidates are rewarded by the world of Arizona business for a certain degree of pragmatism and willingness to make things happen in the center-right of the political spectrum, which is where most Arizonans reside,” Barnes said.

One of the problems, Barnes said, is that the business community is not a homegenous entity. Different groups have different priorities, and just because they worked together on 12 in ’10 doesn’t mean they are working toward precisely the same ends.

Democrate Justin Johnson, for example, attended 12 in ’10 but did not garner the Arizona Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement in his District 10 Senate race. Nor did the chamber endorse his Republican opponent, Sen. Linda Gray, meaning neither candidate had the required support of 60 percent of the chamber’s board of directors.

Predictably, some candidates dispute the notion that they are not pro-business. Allen, regarded as one the more conservative members of the Senate, said the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry primarily supports big corporations, while she is more concerned with the small businesses that make up the economy of her rural district.

“Certainly they chose candidates who have given favors to certain businesses and who tend to be a lot more liberal in the way they vote and the way they look at things,” Allen said. “We should be concerned about everyone and how making certain tax incentives just for one industry puts the harm and burden on everyone else.”

Sen. Ron Gould, viewed by many as the most ideologically conservative member of the Legislature, said lawmakers like him and groups like the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry have divergent views on exactly what constitutes a “pro-business” agenda.

“There seems to be a difference between what they consider pro-business and what I consider free market,” said Gould, who is vehemently opposed to targeted tax breaks and other industry-specific measures. “They like to see special carve-outs for special businesses. I don’t think that’s the government’s purpose to carve out special exemptions because you have enough money to hire a lobbyist.”

While Arizona’s economic tailspin and inaction on legislation like the jobs bill highlight the need to get more involved, Hamer said recent changes in campaign finance law are giving business groups the means to an end.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Arizona’s Clean Elections system from distributing matching funds, which provide additional campaign cash to publicly funded candidates who are outspent by privately funded opponents. Earlier in the year, the court lifted restrictions on direct campaign spending by corporations and labor unions.

Hamer said the end of matching funds gave the business community an opportunity to have a greater impact on elections, and the chamber is taking full advantage.

“When you bring in $275,000-plus … that’s like the gate for a heavyweight fight,” Hamer said. “With the apparent prohibition on those funds being matched … those types of activities are going to have a much greater effect than they’ve had in the past many election cycles.”

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry in May formed the Arizona Business Coalition, a 501(c)4 organization, to promote pro-business candidates. Hamer said he expects the chamber and other business groups to increase their contributions to candidates and independent expenditures.

Sanders said the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce will provide some candidates with campaign volunteers to knock on doors, walk neighborhoods and speak on behalf of candidates.