Attempt to revive voter-approved Heritage Fund stalled in House

[Source: Jessica Testa, Arizona Capitol Times] – A lawmaker’s attempt to have Arizonans decide whether to revive the voter–approved Heritage Fund is stalled in the House. HCR 2047, authored by Rep. Russ Jones, R–Yuma, earned unanimous approval from the House Agriculture and Water Committee in early February, but the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has declined to hear it.

The measure could potentially reinstate the $10 million annually that the Heritage Fund provided to Arizona State Parks. The agency used the money to expand and improve its parks and provide grants to communities for trails, parks and historic preservation.

In 2010, lawmakers eliminated the Heritage Fund and reallocated the money to the general fund. Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the bill wouldn’t be approved because the Legislature needs that $10 million for other natural resources funding, such as state trust land purchases and treatments to prevent forest fires. In addition, he said, the November ballot already has limited space. “The voters don’t like to see 20 or 30 ballot questions,” Kavanagh said. “We get criticized for that all the time. There has to be some triage.” Jones didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

The Heritage Fund, established by voters in 1990, provided $10 million annually from the Arizona Lottery to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, which used the funds to promote recreation and environmental education and help endangered species, and $10 million to Arizona State Parks. The Heritage Fund was approved too early to fall under the 1998 Voter Protection Act, a constitutional amendment that prohibits the Legislature from reallocating voter-created funds.

“Voters fought for 20 years to protect this fund,” said Beth Woodin, president of the Heritage Alliance. “We’re doing everything we can in our waking hours to bring it back to them.” Woodin said Heritage Fund supporters are attempting to bypass Kavanagh, forming a committee of local political players and airing their concerns directly to House Speaker Andy Tobin, R–Paulden, and Senate President Steve Pierce, R–Prescott.

“The Heritage Fund has a huge economic impact,” she said. “For legislators who are cranking the line about job creation and community pride, this is something really positive to have on your resume.”

The Heritage Fund benefited groups such as Patronato Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, which was granted $150,000 in 2007 to renovate its east tower. The grant was canceled before construction began. Now, with the building rapidly deteriorating, renovations could cost between $1.5 and 2 million, said executive director Vern Lamplot. “The longer it sits, the worse the condition of the east tower gets,” he said. “It’s a shame that voters passed this and legislators saw it fit to undo it.”

Woodin’s group has formed a political committee with members such as Grady Gammage Jr., lawyer and senior research fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, and Richard Dozer, former president of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Heritage Fund supporter Lattie Coor, chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona and former ASU president, said access to public space plays an essential role in the lives of Arizonans. “We have to stay attentive to that, protecting it and preserving it as the population continues to grow,” he said.

A House concurrent resolution would allow reinstatement of The Heritage Fund, which would help with renovations on buildings such as the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson. Often called “White Dove of the Desert,” this building was founded in 1692. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Brittny Goodsell)

Communities applaud bid to revive Heritage Fund for historic projects

[Source: Jessica Testa, Cronkite News, 2/16/2012] – FLORENCE – To most people, these old buildings look like they’re decaying from the inside out. To Bonnie Bariola, they’re treasures, held up by century–old adobe brick and generations of hand-me-down stories. The Ceyla Long Sweeny Residence, built in 1876, is a small adobe house with manure for insulation and saguaro ribs for a roof. Bariola points to broken window, shattered by a tossed rock. A few blocks over, three dead pigeons lie just inside the entrance to the Cuen House and Butcher Shop, the first telephone exchange in Pinal County. Bariola fearlessly marches through as pigeons coo from the rafters.

Plans to restore the buildings won grants of more than $90,000 each through the Heritage Fund, which Arizona voters established in 1990. And both were stripped of that promised funding in 2009, when the state swept the Heritage Fund in an effort to balance its sinking budget.

In 2010, lawmakers eliminated the Heritage Fund, pulling the plug on dozens of approved, construction–ready projects, including five in Florence.

Bonnie Bariola, member of the Florence Preservation Foundation, wrote a grant for the restoration of the town's historic White House. Bonnie Bariola, member of the Florence Preservation Foundation, wrote a grant for the restoration of the town’s historic White House.

“Using Heritage funds, we’ve been able to maintain a part of history,” said Bariola, grant writer for the Florence Preservation Foundation. “Without funding, the culture of these buildings wastes away.” During the Heritage Fund’s 20–year run, Florence received more than $1.5 million in 18 state grants to restore its 19th century structures. The former mining community and Pinal County seat was third in the state for total dollars granted, behind Phoenix and Tucson.

Now, a state lawmaker is moving forward with a resolution that would put the Heritage Fund back on the ballot in November. If approved, the fund would be protected from any future sweeps thanks to the 1998 Voter Protection Act, a constitutional amendment that prohibits state lawmakers from reallocating any voter–created funds. “It’s fitting we do this, especially in our centennial year,” Rep. Russ Jones, R–Yuma, said recently to the House Committee on Agriculture and Water, which unanimously voted to support HCR 2047.

The Heritage Fund provided up to $10 million annually from the Arizona Lottery to both the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Arizona State Parks. Game and Fish used the money to promote outdoor recreation, help threatened and endangered species and educate residents about the environment and wildlife. Arizona State Parks used the fund for its own acquisitions and improvements and administered grants through programs benefiting historic preservation, trails and parks.

It’s not just Florence benefiting from the Heritage Fund – every city and town in Arizona has received the grant money, said Janice Miano, part–time executive director of the Arizona Heritage Alliance. “The impact is most noticeable in the rural counties, where any infusion of external funds for trail maintenance, land acquisition and construction repair will have a far larger impact to the relative population,” she said.

A Heritage Fund grant for $60,000 was canceled for a book on midcentury modern architecture published by the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission. The city was able to shore up the money from federal grants to complete the project, and “Midcentury Marvels” will soon have its second printing.

Oro Valley wasn’t as fortunate. A $27,660 grant to build a dog park was canceled, along with a $111,160 grant to restore the 1874 Steam Pump Ranch. Ainsley Legner, director or Oro Valley’s Parks, Recreation, Library and Cultural Resources Department, said she’d be delighted to see Oro Valley residents be able to visit and use that land for recreation. “We don’t have any money available to improve the site. We can’t stabilize all the structures and provide the necessary amenities, like a restroom or a fire hydrant,” she said. “When you take away something as significant as Heritage funding, you can no longer pull all those resources together to make good things happen.”

Jay Ziemann, legislative liaison for Arizona State Parks, said the agency’s board supports Jones’ resolution but that his optimism is limited. Ziemann said many legislators share the views of Rep. Brenda Barton, R–Safford, who raised concerns in the committee meeting about the availability of lottery funds. A reinstated Heritage Fund would reduce the amount of revenue available to the Legislature. “It’s nice that it cleared that first step, but it’s got a long way to go,” Ziemann said. “I know it has a lot of hurdles ahead.”