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Representative Yarbrough Could Personally Profit from Special Session State Lawmaker Refuses to Recuse Himself Despite Clear Conflict of Interest
Gov. Jan Brewer today called a Special Session to pass the "Yarbrough Bill" -- special tuition tax credits that stand to personally enrich a state lawmaker, who continues to refuse to recuse himself from the bill's consideration.
According to The Arizona Republic, Rep. Steve Yarbourgh "has one of the most blatant conflicts of interest one will ever find around this place, and that's saying something." (Source: Arizona Republic, 3/27/05)
Here are the facts surrounding Rep. Steve Yarbrough of Chandler's conflict of interest:
"Yarbrough, an attorney, directs one of the largest student tuition organizations in the state, the East Valley Christian School Tuition Organization, which takes money from Arizona's popular tuition tax credit for private and parochial school scholarships.His reported $90,000 yearly salary comes from the taxpayers who take the credits." (Source: Arizona Republic, 3/27/05)
Yarbrough also owns HY Processing, a company that contracts business with other STOs who will benefit from the legislation. (Source: Arizona Daily Star, 5/19/09)
Yarbrough said that HY Processing is "designed to make money." Over the last several years, Yarbrough has continually sponsored bills that would expand the credits that directly benefit himself and his organization. (Source: Arizona Daily Star, 5/19/09)
The Arizona Republic reported,"This is not just a matter of special interests being served by the Republican Legislature," said Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Don Bivens. "This is about blatant self-interest. Steve Yarbrough has a responsibility to recuse himself from consideration of this legislation. If he doesn't, the whole legislative process will be tainted. Statemanship requires intregrity for the public good, not salesmanship for private gain"
"So, in Arizona legislative logic, that makes Yarbrough a natural choice to sponsor multiple bills over the past 2 1/2 tinkering with the tax credits that keep his lights on. The biggest bill, which the Legislature approved Thursday, would expand the tax credits to corporations, a potential $50 million yearly hit to the General Fund once fully implemented, and about twice as much as the tax credits bring in now." (Source: Arizona Republic, March 27, 2005)
