The latest AACo news for you

MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021 AACo Bulletin Advancing Arizona's Counties since 1968

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Legislative Update and County Government Platform

Last week was a productive week at the legislature as almost all committees met during the reduced week. New to this year, to actively testify in committee you must send an email to a staffer 24 hours before the committee meeting. This means there is a bit more planning needed to testify both in-person and virtually. AACo staff have been engaged in both forms of testimony and continue to meet with legislators.

Legislative meetings are each being conducted by the individual member’s preference and range from Zoom calls to phone calls to in-person meetings. Legislative assistants are getting into the groove of the new version of session, but this is a stranger year in the fact that you can end up in voicemail a lot more than other times. Legislative assistants also report thousands of emails coming in per day particularly from elections issue form-letters so we are working actively to keep the personal touches and presence with the legislators.

There are now over 600 House bills introduced as the introduction of the 7 bill limit in the House came at 5:00 PM last Thursday on 01/21/2021. The Senate bill introduction deadline is 02/01/2021 and the House bill introduction deadline is 02/08/2021.

Bills of AACo interest that were in committee included:

HB2057 passed on a party-line 6-4 vote in House NREW. AACo testified against this bill and discussion ranged for over an hour.
HB2162 is our AACo Class Six open bill. It passed 9-0 through House Criminal Justice Reform Committee.
SB1010 passed party-line 5-3 in Senate GOV. AACo testified against the bill. Sponsor seemed open to some technical changes.
SB1025 passed party-line 4-3-1 in Senate GOV. AACo testified against the bill. Sponsor seemed open to some technical changes.

County Government Platform Update

Check in with AACo each week to learn how the components of the 2021 County Government Platform are advancing with state policy officials.

Visit the Advocacy Center of our website for detailed information about AACo's bills.

Governor Ducey Releases Budget

On January 15th the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting released its FY2022 Budget recommendation. The budget prioritizes new investments in education with significant initiatives in health, public safety, and broadband.

Due to the quirks of having passed a “skinny” baseline focused budget last year, some economic indicators may look larger than they realistically are. For example, the individual income tax collections is significantly higher, brought on by the fact that the income tax deadline was extended into FY21. Additionally, K-12 education was to see a $389 million cut in formula spending due to attendance and enrollment changes for 2020-2021 that was simply reinvested as one-time funding in FY21.

However, despite these blips the economic factors surrounding the budget look relatively vibrant at the whole-of-economy level. Certain sectors are still hurting, but the state is hovering nearer to its pre-COVID level of activity than expected. The Executive Budget forecasts a rather rosy jump in revenues after the virus is fully dealt with this year.

Notable initiatives that interest our county elected officials include:

$200 million tax cut that expands to $600 million three years later. Whether this takes a focus on property taxes like SB1108 (Mesnard’s Tax Omnibus) or focus more on individual income taxes after the passage of Prop 208 is yet to be seen.
$33.1 million to fund the I-40 West Broadband Corridor from Flagstaff to the California border.
$10 million to fund a rural broadband grant program that is more household and last-mile connections.
$5 million to fully fund the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund Program with prioritization on the mitigation of Pre and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Plume threatening Tucson’s central drinking water wellfield.
Increased investments into Arizona’s Fire Preparedness including $2 million more for fire suppression funding, $4 million increase to the Governor’s Emergency Fund cap for fire suppression needs and the start of the AZ Healthy Forest Initiative for public-private partnerships for forest thinning.
The closing of Florence Prison is still planned over the course of FY22. Staff will be transferred to Eyman Prison to help with vacancies.
$5 million to expand substance abuse treatment programs in prisons.
$16.2 million in FY22 and $16 million again in FY23 and FY24 to upgrade the public safety radio network system.
$64 million to expand the I-17 from Anthem to Sunset Point.

The largest investments are all education related. A few highlights:

$389 million for an accelerated student support program to try to make up for learning loss due to COVID using the moneys that would have been lost due to attendance drops this year.
$67.8 million to completely restore additional assistance.
$10 million on “driving equity” which is designed to both create a grant system to extend transportation solutions to expand school choice and a marketing campaign about open enrollment options and create an open enrollment month.
$6.9 million targeted to assessing and assisting early literacy in the PK-3 level.

The response from the Democrats can be found here and is most critical of the proposed tax cut and the handling of the pandemic. Media attention seems most fixated on the “driving equity” piece and its impact with charter schools. Supporters of the Governor tout that many of his investments, particularly in education are expansions of research-backed interventions such as the early literacy investments.

Summary of State of the State

Governor Doug Ducey live-streamed his seventh State of the State on January 11th. In the virtual address, the Governor outlined his vision for 2021, focusing on the continued fight against COVID-19, the distribution of the vaccine, prioritizing K-12 education, creating jobs and helping Arizonans who have been impacted by the economic consequences of the pandemic.

In his speech, Governor Ducey took a moment to thank and honor the healthcare professionals that have worked tirelessly in the COVID-19 pandemic and announced that the state launched a 24/7 vaccination site at the Arizona Cardinal's State Farm stadium. Governor Ducey also advocated for an imminent return to in-person school for all students, noting that students have lost out on "experiences that can't be duplicated on a computer screen."

Despite the economic hardship that has come from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor reiterated his pledge for no new taxes in any form, calling on the legislature to "reform and lower taxes.”

A copy of the full-text of the Governor's State of the State address is available here.

Save the Date

2021 NACo Legislative Conference

The National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference brings together elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and our residents.

Though we are not able to gather in person just yet, our voice in Washington is more important than ever. We are planning virtual advocacy with congressional leaders and committees, and senior White House and federal agency officials.

Join us virtually for opportunities to engage in second-to-none policy sessions, interact with high-level federal officials and participate in invaluable networking and knowledge-sharing.

You won't want to miss this one-of-a-kind advocacy opportunity. Registration will open the week of January 18.

2021 NACo Achievement Awards

Applications are now open for the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2021 Achievement Awards. Please join us in celebrating 51 years of county innovation by applying today.

Since 1970, the NACo Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding county government programs and services. Through a non-competitive application process, noteworthy programs receive awards in 18 categories that cover a vast range of county responsibilities. By participating, your county can earn national recognition.

NACo will highlight the 18 “best of category” winners, as well as feature all winners in NACo materials and online. We also provide a customizable press release for you to share the good news with the media and residents.

We encourage all counties, parishes and boroughs to apply.

EARLY BIRD APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 8, 2021 (save $25 off the application fee)

REGULAR APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

For more information, please review the Achievement Awards online brochure, or email awards@naco.org with any questions.

CASHVEST by THREE+ONE

The Arizona Association of Counties would like to introduce cashVest^® by three+one^®, our newest Premier Partner. cashVest is a financial technology organization helping counties leverage new data capabilities to maximize the value of all financial resources using the power of liquidity analysis. cashVest complements current public finance practices and, because three+one is neither a bank, registered investment advisor, or financial advisor, it provides the confidence that your entity is receiving independent, unbiased data from a third-party FinTech provider.

Even more importantly, the three+one team is comprised of former public officials; we have been in your position, we know the difficulties facing counties, we have had to make the difficult choices you face and, because of all that, we share your commitment in working for the public good.

Here are some of the ways cashVest by three+one can help your county:

• Confidence your county is maximizing all financial resources. An objective third-party data provider can complement current efforts of your fiscal team.

• Peer benchmarking using liquidity data compiled across the country to ensure your county performs at the highest possible level compared to peers.

• Stress-testing on liquidity to show how vulnerable cash positions are in worst-case scenarios. Provide future forecasts that tell an entity where its cash position will be in the future.

• Right-sizing of bank fee structures, no matter the rate environment.

• The potential of a higher credit rating, as advanced liquidity projections and cash flow capacity now make up 10% of the framework for local GO ratings at S&P.

The AACo partnership with three+one is in conjunction with the National Association of Counties and has been deemed as a best practice and COVID-19 resource. We are eager to provide this resource to the AACo membership as cashVest is a proven solution that has brought over $300 million back to the public entities it serves nationwide.

For more information please visit our FAQ Sheet and threeplusone.us.

Arizona and National Associations of Counties Partner to Strengthen Public Sector Cybersecurity

With new cyber threats emerging every day, the Arizona Association of Counties (AACo) has partnered with the National Association of Counties (NACo) to strengthen local governments’ cybersecurity efforts. The NACo Cybersecurity Collaborative will provide Arizona’s counties with access to top tier technology security professionals, information, intelligence, best practices and other resources to prepare for, prevent and mitigate cybersecurity threats.

“The best way to address escalating cybersecurity challenges is to collaborate in a peer-to-peer network and share expertise,” said Jennifer Marson, AACo’s executive director. “Through the Cybersecurity Collaborative, counties will be better equipped to protect residents‘ data and defend against potentially devastating cyberattacks.”

Public sector security practices continue to evolve and improve. Once focusing mainly on physical security and natural disaster preparedness, counties now address security of networked and personal devices, mobile applications and cloud-enabled solutions.

“The Cybersecurity Collaborative provides access to world-class expertise and actionable information to prepare for and respond to cyber threats and attacks,” said Matthew Chase, NACo’s executive director. “This cutting-edge program is designed to help counties mitigate risks and navigate complex security dynamics as new threats emerge every day.”

The NACo Cybersecurity Collaborative is a peer-based network that shares proven action plans to drive cyber readiness, implementation guides and comprehensive checklists. Members of the collaborative have access to customizable policies and procedures for governance controls and compliance, and the ability to connect with experts to ask real-time questions for guidance on real-time issues. Learn more at https://www.naco.org/resources/cost-saving-tools/cybersecurity-collaborative.