Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

An interesting paradox has developed at the Legislature this year. Even though state policymakers are sitting on record tax revenues and a robust Arizona economy, they seem more obsessed with tax increases than ever before.

I read with great interest the opinion piece published on Monday from Sen. Paul Boyer in support of SB1115.

I’m a Republican and free-market conservative. I believe in a limited government, individual liberty and free will.

States are moving to restrict exemptions. As outbursts of measles plague our nation and others, it is strange to see Arizona work to make its children less safe, undermining what courts and public health officials have described as the gold standard for preventing infections--reduced exemptions.

Public policy often sounds better in theory than it plays out in reality. The Affordable Care Act, The Patriot Act, The Women’s Reproductive Health Care Act have all been criticized for arguably not living up to their names. The same will be said of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), should it pass the many hurdles ahead.

An Oklahoma mom killed her newborn by putting him into the washing machine with a load of laundry. A Utah mom gave her 17-month-old a fatal mix of methadone and Tylenol. A Pennsylvania mom suffocated her six-week-old.

“Shut your mouth.” That’s what a pediatrician said to me when I simply questioned where Vitamin K is mandated for my newborn baby.

Despite the evergreen temptation to involve itself in the market, the government should resist the gold shovels and oversized scissors and commit themselves to the difficult and mundane work of improving government functions for all.

This legislative session, Republican lawmakers are following in the footsteps of President Donald Trump and addressing the need for sentencing reform in Arizona. So far, the bills that have gained momentum in the House and Senate are well-intentioned but too weak to put a dent in our massive prison population.

With each technological advance we witness the same response as whatever legacy industry is being disrupted seeks the government’s assistance in burying the upstarts in red tape, taxes and fees. And all of this while cloaking its anti-competitive actions behind talk of “leveling the playing field” or “protecting consumers.”