In Arizona, “a move is afoot to prevent government agencies from spending taxpayer dollars on lobbyists.” A February 25 Arizona Daily Star article credits a Goldwater Institute study for prompting the state legislature to act; the article notes, “Earlier this month a bill passed through a Senate committee, breaking down on party lines, that would stop the practice.” Surrealistically, the journalist reports, “The hearing room was loaded with lobbyists for counties, towns, school districts and state agencies worried it would be next to impossible to garner more funding for pet projects if the bill were to pass.”

The instigating Goldwater report, “Your Tax Dollars at Work: The Implications of Taxpayer-funded Lobbying,” highlights the ratchet effect of government growth when government entities lobby other government bodies on the taxpayer dime. One outcome detrimental to the Republic: The practice “violates the First Amendment principle of neutrality, which proscribes government from dictating which issues and viewpoints predominate.” So asserts the postcard announcing the report. From Michigan, the Mackinac Center’s Diane Katz shows this liberty-eating locust respects no state border. In “Using Taxes To Lobby for Taxes,” Katz describes how the Michigan Municipal League, the Presidents Council and State Universities of Michigan, among others, have hired a PR firm to help push a tax increase through the state legislature. The solution? Goldwater advocates, “Improved disclosure, and ultimately prohibition, would ensure that the right to lobby remains with the citizens.” It’s nice to know some Grand Canyon State legislators are listening.