Democrats are pro-family and pro-business and will not be pre-empted by Republicans in those areas, says Senate Democrat Leader Linda Aguirre.

Senate Democrats are working on a “position paper” they say will serve as their legislative agenda, and it will call for an equitable tax system for families and businesses.

Ms. Aguirre, D-16, says Republicans don’t have the corner on family values.

“They keep labeling Democrats as anti-family, but that’s a misnomer,” she said in a recent interview with Arizona Capitol Times.

“We have been very family oriented,” she said. “We stick up for all-day kindergarten, which is a family issue, and health care, which is a family issue. I think we’re even stronger on family issues sometimes than some of our Republican counterparts here in the Senate.”

Republican leaders Jan. 3 announced their legislative priorities, which they said are all driven by family values.

“We will assess all legislative and governmental actions based on whether they strengthen or erode the family,” a GOP statement said.

Ms. Aguirre told her caucus Jan. 11, “We want to change the way Democrats are looked at in this state. We want to dismantle that myth that we’re not business friendly. We are.”

Assistant Democratic Leader Harry Mitchell, D-17, said the extension of the transportation tax for road improvements and light-rail in Maricopa County, a funding guarantee for expansion of Phoenix Civic Plaza and initial funding in 2000 for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (T-GEN) would not have passed without Democrats’ support.

Governor Napolitano’s call for business tax breaks in her State of the State speech Jan. 10 prompted some Republicans to say she was coming over to their side by stealing a page from former President Clinton’s “new Democrat” playbook.

“She could become a member of the Republican Party were she to believe what she said,” Sen. Ron Gould, R-3, said.

In the speech, Ms. Napolitano called for tax relief and incentives for business.

Welcoming officials of the Democratic National Committee here last year, Ms. Napolitano said, “I became a new Democrat because I became persuaded that it was a part of our party that was generating ideas that could work in a state like Arizona. Democrats are not anti-business. They need to be pro-business and pro-jobs.”

Ms. Aguirre was asked if the governor’s tax proposals were made to politically placate Republicans and, if they would be met with opposition from Democrats.

“I don’t see that at all,” she said.

Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-14, however cautioned the caucus that tax “equity” could mean that while taxes are reduced for some, they are increased for others. And Sen. Marsha Arzberger, D-25, said she was concerned that a proposal to reduce business property taxes without raising taxes on homeowners could pose a potential tax increase on agriculture to make up the difference.

“Agriculture is hanging on by its toenails,” she said.

What The Position Paper Will State

The Senate Democrats’ position paper also will call for pay raises for state employees, who Democrats say are earning 30 per cent below market wages in some areas. On opening day of the session, state employees demonstrated at the Capitol, calling for higher wages and the right to collective bargaining. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees walked around the Capitol Mall, calling for a 5.5 per cent raise.

“What do we want?” they chanted. “A raise. When do we want it? Now.”

The position paper draft lists other “guiding principles,” which include:

Adequate funding for education, including a second year of voluntary full-day kindergarten.

State trust land reform aimed at “funding public education and balancing the needs of growth with the need to preserve open space for future generations.”

Formulation of a comprehensive water management plan.

Providing a business climate that creates high-paying jobs.

Senate Democrats say they will cooperate with Republicans.

“After one of the most divisive elections in recent memory,” the position paper reads, “the Arizona Senate Democratic caucus understands the public’s dissatisfaction with the negative turn our country has taken in its political realm. The last thing our state needs is to get bogged down by useless political rhetoric …”

Ms. Aguirre said House Democrats came up with their own legislative agenda because “the tone is different over there, and they’re slugging it out” in a different setting.

There are 12 Democrats in the Senate. —