By Sergio Arellano-Oros
Knowing he would face stiff opposition from some republican colleagues, Senator Al Melvin forged ahead and sponsored legislation yesterday to create a tax credit program for film and multimedia productions at the request of some constituents. According to capitol insiders, within minutes of the bill being introduced, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik killed almost any chance of Melvin’s success.
Kozachik, who had been urging Tucsonans to put pressure on the legislature in favor of the bill, appeared on a local Tucson radio show and began blasting the Legislature. His attack was random and vicious according to listeners.
Although the bill was “facing some stiff opposition” and probably would not have made it out of the Finance Committee, it died almost immediately after Kozachik’s rant was reported to legislators.
Legislators like Finance Committee Chair Yarbrough, who said he had heartburn because it “essentially allows a company to claim a cash refund from the state if its tax credit exceeds its income tax liability or if it has no tax liability,” now have no excuse to entertain the bill. They reckon that if the biggest proponent thinks they are a bunch of idiots then he would be right if they gave the loser bill a chance.
Before Kozachik’s rant was widely known about up at the Capitol, Yarborough told the Yellow Sheet that the he thinks the jobs created by the film program would only be temporary jobs. He reasoned that movie productions would come to Arizona, film their projects and then move on. Yarbrough, who has supported previous job-creation legislation, said, “It is quite one thing to say that, if you have a tax liability, you’re going to get some relief because you’re doing some otherwise really positive economic development aspects. But the fact that you could get money back from the state without actually having had a tax liability – to me I just think is really poor public policy.”
One Tucsonan who had questioned the wisdom of the bill was grateful for Kozachik’s uncivil tongue, “He can’t help himself. He is an angry man who just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”
Kozachik’s brother is a player in the movie industry, and Kozachik’s focus has been mostly on the film tax credit as a source of jobs in the 6th poorest metropolitan area in the country. His other obsessions have been the infringement of gun ownership rights, and ending greyhound racing.