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Axios
23-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Arizona leader warns Diamondbacks could be poached by Utah
Last year, Utah swiped a professional sports team from Arizona. Now, there's concern from our southern neighbor that it could happen again. State of play: Arizona Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Danny Seiden appeared on the "The Mike Broomhead Show" this week to discuss legislative negotiations over a bill that would take sales tax money generated by the Arizona Diamondbacks and use it for ballpark renovations. What he said: "If we are not careful, we are going to see the Arizona Diamondbacks become the Utah Pika or whatever awful animal they will change it to," said Seiden, who supports the legislation. "They took our Coyotes and turned it into the Mastodon, Elephant or something. It is something terrible, I don't even want to say it. It hurts my heart. Some Utah nonsense," he said of Arizona's former NHL team, now called the Utah Mammoth. "We can't allow that to happen to the D-backs."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republicans care less about business freedom and more about 'owning the libs'
'When we are requiring businesses to do certain things, we need to be very careful.' This statement, made by state Rep. David Livingston, used to be axiomatic among elected Republicans in Arizona. It's why Arizona Republicans celebrated the Arizona Supreme Court's Brush & Nib ruling in 2019, so that businesses wouldn't be forced to violate their religious convictions. It's why Arizona Republicans filed suit to stop the Biden administration from mandating vaccination protocols for private businesses. And it's why Arizona Republicans passed a bill to prevent cities and towns from dictating the type of bags used by private businesses. But many of today's Arizona Republicans are no longer dogmatic limited-government conservatives. Their political philosophy is less Barry Goldwater and more 'own the libs.' It's perhaps why only two other House Republicans joined Livingston in opposing bill HB 2683, which forces retail businesses to accept cash as payment. Republican Rep. Pam Carter decided the cash mandate was worth it because "it is so much fun to take a little bit of your cash and put it in a little envelope" to be spent later. Republican Rep. Teresa Martinez sees government coercion as appropriate in this case because she wants "to be able to hand somebody a $20 bill and get some change back.' Free market conservatives would politely remind representatives Carter and Martinez that if their desires are broadly shared, there surely will be a market to satisfy them. But that doesn't require forcing all retail businesses to comply or be penalized. It's part of the reason why the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, the Buckeye Chamber of Commerce, the East Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and the West Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance all oppose the cash mandate. But even aside from a limited government philosophy, there are practical reasons to oppose the cash mandate of HB 2683. First, as anyone who has owned or operated a retail business (as I have) can tell you, having cash on-hand increases your risk of theft. According to both the FBI and the National Retail Federation, even a small amount of cash on premises – $100 – increases the likelihood of external theft. Potential problems from external theft don't end with the amount of money stolen. If somebody robs your retail store, there's a chance it turns violent. Or there's a chance your store's employees try to stop the thief, which then leads to potential legal exposure from both the employee and, bizarrely, the thief (e.g. if your employee uses excessive force in stopping the criminal). Happily, in Maricopa County, we have a prosecutor in Rachel Mitchell who cares about the rule of law and has made prosecuting retail crime a priority. But that doesn't unring the bell. Then there's internal theft. If you're a cash-heavy business with short term employees, you're going to lose some cash to employees 'skimming' from your sales. It's just that way it is. Internal theft is hard to measure, but a 2024 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) were disproportionately affected by such theft. And there's counterfeit concerns. Most retail businesses now have access to counterfeit detection mechanisms, but those devices are another business cost, and using them slows down the pace of business. Time and administrative hassle is another downside to handling cash. If you have cash, you have to train employees in cash management practices. Every time a new employee takes over the cash register, you have to count the cash, and at the end of each business day, you have to reconcile cash with transactions – something that's a non-issue for digital payments. You also have to pay costs for secure cash storage and secure cash transfer to the bank. Again, all things that don't exist with digital payments. HB 2683 is a mandate on private businesses. Plain and simple. We Arizona Republicans all used to be programmed as Livingston still is: instinctually opposed to mandates. But even if that no longer matters, there are plenty of practical reasons to oppose the mandate, and let retail businesses avoid cash, should they choose. Stephen Richer is a former Maricopa County recorder. He is now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and CEO of Republic Affairs. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @stephen_richer. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Where are the pro-business Arizona Republicans? | Opinion
