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We’ve been on the road in Cottonwood, AZ training students from VACTE. What a great program! The students were excited to put their skills to work. After just two days of spreading, buttering, leveling, plumbing, and ranging they decided to build a pizza oven. We came up with a plan and they executed it with little instruction and a lot of teamwork. The brick oven was constructed with a mix of CMU and Brick. The floor of the oven is laid in a herringbone pattern and the top consisted of three brick arches. Impressive for the third day of training! With some help from Papa Murphy’s and a couple of students that knew their way around a brick oven. We had some awesome pizza! Also, notice the custom Pizza Peel made by Mr. Black. He’s currently taking orders! COMING UP We will be back in the Valley at West-MEC Northeast campus. The students have been working on their Mini Houses and we are going to help with some adhered stone (Thank you Diversified Building Supply for your generosity!) to add some beauty. I can’t wait to see the pride in their faces when the stone is on, and they step back to see what they have created with their own two hands. Moments like these are why I love what I do. Come out and see for yourselves at WEST-MEC Northeast starting January 24th – 28th. Don't forget to email (ryan@azmasonry.org) and/or call (602.622.9842) Ryan to make sure you are on his outreach list to join him in recruiting high school students, or to schedule him to visit your school .

The legislature is shifting its focus away from hearing new bills in committee and onto the floor of the House and Senate as well as negotiating the state budget. The last committee hearing of the year is this week, while the deadline for completing work on the budget is July 1 -- still months away. That’s good because negotiators are very far apart on a deal. Part of the ‘problem’ is state revenues are up so much, there is little agreement among the majority party regarding what to do with all this money. At its core, the fight is between cutting taxes, paying off existing debt and authorizing new spending. As for legislation, S1191 union labor; prohibition; prevailing wage has made it most of the way through the process but appears to be in trouble on the House floor. With the vote in the Senate along party lines, every Republican in the House will have to be on board if the bill is going to make it up to the Governor’s desk. But in a meeting among just Republicans this week, Rep. Cook said he is opposed to the bill. He was quite strident saying the bill is nothing more than a waste of time. We are trying to make him understand that political jurisdictions in this state such as the City of Phoenix and some school districts are finding creative ways around the law that prohibit these types of agreements. Stay tuned. Another important bill, H2822 personal property; additional depreciation which will reduce personal property taxes has made it up to the governor’s desk and is expected to be signed into law. Background Arizona taxes all property based on its use and has two types of property taxes that are levied: 1) Primary, which is for maintenance and operation of a taxing jurisdiction and 2) Secondary, which is for bonded indebtedness, voter-approved budget overrides and special taxing districts. Property is listed as either real (land, buildings and improvements to land) or personal (office furniture, business equipment and tools used for business purposes) and divided into nine legal classes. Current law sets the valuation factor for the first tax year of assessment at 25% for specific personal property in class one, class two (P) and class six. This bill will lower the valuation factor to 2.5% for specific personal property in class one, class two (P) and class six that is acquired and initially classified beginning during or after tax year 2022. Overview Prohibits counties, municipalities and political subdivisions from requiring the use of or providing preferential treatment to labor unions in specified circumstances. History Counties and municipalities are prohibited from accepting federal monies for construction projects if, as a condition of accepting the federal monies, the county or municipality is required to provide preferential treatment to union labor (A.R.S. §§ 9-500.30 and 11-251.14). Additionally, departments, institutions, boards and commissions are prohibited from accepting federal monies for construction projects if, as a condition of accepting the federal monies, the department, institution, board or commission must give preference to union labor (A.R.S. § 41-4901). Provisions 1. Prohibits municipalities from requiring the use of or providing preferential treatment to union labor as a condition for the approval of zoning permits, zooming variances, rezoning applications, general plan amendments or other permits or land use requirements. (Sec. 1) 2. Prohibits counties from requiring the use of or providing preferential treatment to union labor as a condition for the approval of zoning permits, zooming variances, rezoning applications, general plan amendments or other permits or land use requirements. (Sec. 2) 3. States agencies and political subdivisions, when entering public works contracts, are prohibited from doing the following as a condition of awarding the contract: a) Providing a wage or salary that is different from the agency or political subdivision required for other contracts or industries within the jurisdiction; b) Show a labor management agreement, employee grievance policy; or c) Demonstrate labor organization status. (Sec. 3)

Federal Stimulus for Arizona With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Arizona is slated to receive $12.3 billion – a sum larger than the entire state budget and 3 times more than the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) from last year. There are many ways this money could find its way into capital/construction budgets especially for state and local governments, school districts and health care. It promises to deliver a direct $1,400 stimulus payment to people making $75,000 or less annually, which is the remaining amount from the second stimulus package ($600) already distributed by the Trump Administration in December. It extends the unemployment compensation, continues eviction and foreclosure moratorium. As for state and local government aid, the plan also provides funds to help compensate for lost tax revenues, fund schools for grades K-8 to safely reopen during the pandemic. About $1.7 billion of Arizona’s share will go to healthcare and $4.8 billion will go to the state’s coronavirus relief fund and could be used to respond to most Covid related issues but cannot be used to pay down pension debt or “reduce taxes directly or indirectly.” This federal aid may impede Republicans’ attempts to cut up to $1 billion in taxes. Arizona cities would receive a total of $2.6 billion and its businesses would receive another $1.2 billion. An additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits would be extended through Sept. 6th. Arizona district and charter schools will directly get 90% of the $3.2 billion for education. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman will directly oversee more than $300 million, which includes the $129 million to address learning loss and a combined $54 million for afterschool and summer programs for disadvantaged students. If you want more detail, here is a more detailed breakdown of the Arizona specific funding: https://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/Americanrescueplanact031621.pdf State Budget Update The Senate met last week on the budget, but members weren’t allowed to keep the copies. They say the copies showed the Senate framework was very similar to what has been in place since January. As for the tax plan, the House is much further along than the Senate, but it isn’t clear what the Senate’s appetite is for the House’s version. As for spending, Senator Boyer has a very aggressive budget ask of roughly $180M for firefighters with cancer, education and other issues that he’s willing to go to the battlefield for. It is also unclear if Republicans will give in to all or just a portion of his budget requests. Bills still on the Move Our most important bill this year is SB1179 CTEDs; fourth-year funding. Since the bill costs money this must be included in the final budget blueprint if it is to become law. To reach that goal we are speaking with members of the House and Senate to ask for them to support including SB1179 in the budget. As a reminder, here is what the bill would accomplish: Expands work-based learning opportunities by restoring funding for CTE internships. Restores funding to CTED students in grade 9th, only for targeted programs included on the in-demand regional education list and if the student persists and remains enrolled in an approved CTED program through the 40th day their 10th Restores funding for students in the year immediately following HS graduation (13th grade) only if they participate in a program included on the in-demand regional education list. Requires Office of Economic Opportunity in collaboration with ADE and business & industry to compile an annual in-demand regional education list of CTED programs that lead to a career path in high demand with median-to-high wage jobs in that region. Explicitly limits a student to a maximum of four years of CTED funding. Another important issue that just came up a few weeks ago is H2760 contractors; qualifying party. Recall that as a result of a mistake in the ROC omnibus bill from two years ago, qualifying parties can be held personally liable for ROC violations by a licensee. We worked with the AGC to educate members and round up votes in committee and on the Senate floor. It passed the Senate on Tuesday; it faces one final vote in the House and then will be sent to the governor for his signature.