Rep. Sam Crump, a Republican from Anthem, meets with reporters at the Capitol on Feb. 3 after being removed as chairman of the House Government Committee by Speaker Kirk Adams. Sen. Ron Gould, Republican of Lake Havasu City, stands behind Crump.

A decision Feb. 2 to strip a House Republican of his committee chairmanship was reversed two days later, allowing Rep. Sam Crump to remain chairman of the Government Committee.
House Speaker Kirk Adams decided to remove Crump from the post several days after the Anthem Republican held up a budget vote by banding together with a handful of other Republicans to demand deeper cuts in funding for biotechnology businesses. 
“Committee chairmen have a heightened responsibility to the caucus and must be mindful of the objectives of the House as a whole,” Adams wrote in a statement Feb. 4 announcing Crump would still be chairman. “I was concerned that Representative Crump exceeded proper decorum during the budget debates.”
The press release noted that Adams and Crump had met Feb. 3 and acknowledged that there had been misunderstandings.
“I certainly have a better understanding of the significance the speaker places on the role of committee chairmen,” Crump stated in the release.
The dust-up began Jan. 30 after Crump refused to vote on a budget package that stopped short of completely draining a fund aimed at developing the biotechnology industry in Arizona. That night as the House prepared to vote on a package of bills intended to close a $1.6 billion budget gap, Crump led a group of nine House Republicans, including six freshmen, to demand that all funding be stripped from the 21st Century Fund.
Crump later told the Arizona Capitol Times that he “almost blew a gasket” when he learned the 21st Century Fund wasn’t going to be eliminated, despite deep cuts to education and health care services.
“How can we defend those cuts if we’re giving out corporate handouts?” he said.
The 21st Century Fund was originally supposed to receive a $25 million state match if the same amount of private donations could be raised. Last June, that figure was revised to $22.5 million. House and Senate leaders last week agreed to take $15 million from the fund to balance the budget, but Crump and others demanded the remaining $7.5 million be removed as well.
Rep. Jerry Weiers, a Glendale Republican who joined Crump in the fight over the 21st Century Fund money, was critical of the initial decision to strip Crump of his chairmanship and said the punishment did not fit the offense.
“I think it’s bad policy to discipline somebody for doing what their district has sent them here to do, which is stand up for what they believe in,” he said. “I think it’s dangerous ground to be walking.”
The other Republicans involved in the scrap were: Rep. Frank Antenori, R-30; Rep. Judy Burges, R-4; Rep. David Gowan, R-30; Rep. Laurin Hendrix, R-22; Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-12; Rep. Frank Pratt, R-23; Rep. Carl Seel, R-6; and Rep. David Stevens, R-25.
Burges called Crump an “excellent conservative” for working to remove unnecessary spending from the state budget.
Adams’ reaction caught many representatives by surprise. Rep. Jack Brown, a St. Johns Democrat who is in his 35th year of legislative service, said it was unusual for a speaker to remove a committee chair, especially so early in the session.
“If it was me, I’d have moved a little bit slower to hold my caucus together,” Brown said, noting that disagreements within a caucus are generally handled behind closed doors before they escalate to this point.
Weiers said Crump’s removal as chairman would have had a negative effect on the caucus.
“I think by taking his chairmanship away, you turn him into a martyr," Weiers said. "And people who believe in conservative issues will see it as a badge of honor."
Republican political consultant Constantin Querard said that already happened.
“Crump is a folk hero right now,” he said. “Everybody roots for the underdog to the degree he’s standing up to corporate pork while other funds are being (cut). The Republican base is going to love him for this.”
At the height of the confusion Feb. 3 – after Rep. Steve Yarbrough had been named to replace Crump on the House Government Committee, Crump called a press conference to explain in detail what transpired between him and Adams. But the press conference was cut short when Crump announced he might have struck a deal to retain his chairmanship.
"However, in just the last half-hour, I've been asked to hold off on making any comments and there may be some reconciliation…within the next 24 hours," Crump said.