One component of the House budget that aims to entice the National Basketball Association to host its 2009 All Star Game in Phoenix by suspending the state sales tax for tickets to the event drew fire from Democrat lawmakers, who said Republicans were being hypocritical.
Rep. Steve Farley, D-28, said the tax suspension, which is estimated to cost the state about $700,000, sounds a lot like the tax subsidies cities use to attract businesses that Republicans decry as a misuse of taxpayer money.
An ardent Phoenix Suns fan still stinging from the team’s loss in the NBA playoffs, Rep. Ed Ableser, D-17, said during the May 23 budget vote the state shouldn’t be giving tax breaks to businesses that have proven themselves “incompetent,” like the NBA.
A week earlier, on the heels of the NBA suspending Suns players Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw, Ableser made a floor speech opposing the tax break for the basketball league because of the decision “to mess with our team and their chances to win a national championship.” He also called for the impeachment of NBA Commissioner David Stern.
But House Speaker Jim Weiers said the tax suspension isn’t comparable to the “giveaways” Republicans hammer cities for making. In those cases, cities collect tax revenue and give it to the businesses, while the taxes would not even be collected in this situation.
Being the host city to an All Star Game, Weiers said, would bring upward of $100 million in raw sales to Arizona, which would generate about $7 million in sales tax revenue. He said the NBA will not come to Phoenix unless the sales tax on tickets is suspended.
“If they don’t come here, you get no revenue,” he said. “It’s not a payoff, it’s not a reduction in ethics. It’s simply mathematics.”