i bet he wants to run for office again so he can steal from the public and give to special intrest groups again. and i bet a lot of people are dumb enough to beleive this spiel of rubbish.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AZ_GROSCOST_APOLOGY_AZOL-?SITE=AZMES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

May 8, 5:02 PM EDT

Former House speaker says he's sorry for car subsidy debacle

By PAUL DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- Former Arizona House Speaker Jeff Grocost's push for lavish tax breaks for purchases of alternative fuel vehicles back in 2000 cost the state $120 million and cost him his political career.

He says he's sorry. Sorry for the price tag for the state. Sorry for the political price tag for himself and others. Sorry for the years in which alternative fuel vehicles were stigmatized, at least in Arizona, by the "ignominious past" of the legislation that he championed.

"When I was speaker of the House, I promoted the legislation to make alt-fuels more widely available and used. Although the intent was honest and forward-looking, the law we passed was flawed. For that, the people of this state have my deepest apologies," Groscost wrote in a commentary published Sunday by The Arizona Republic.

However, Groscost says others also played a role in the subsidy program getting out of hand.

"Unscrupulous car salesmen" pitched the program as simply a way to save 30 percent on big-ticket trucks while vehicle buyers "who never planned to use the fuel abused the system," Groscost wrote.

Groscost said mistakes included not anticipating interest in the refundable tax credit, not capping participation and not requiring usage of alternative fuels.

He didn't mention that unbeknownst to most other state officials, he successfully encouraged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take a regulatory action that dramatically allowed more vehicles to qualify for the tax breaks.

The Groscost commentary was part of a package of articles published by the Republic on Sunday concerning the Clean Cities Congress and Expo being held in Phoenix this week. The Republic asked Groscost to write the commentary, said Phil Boas, editorial pages deputy editor.

At Groscost's behest, the Legislature in the spring of 2000 expanded an existing tax break for purchases of alt-fuel vehicles. When thousands of Arizonans began to purchase vehicles to qualify, the projected costs ballooned from the $5 million to $10 million expected by legislators to a feared $680 million.

The Legislature and then-Gov. Jane Hull reacted that fall by approving a moratorium and then imposing new eligibility conditions that ultimately reduced the state's expense to approximately $120 million.

The episode tarred the reputations of the Legislature as a whole and Hull, who had signed the original bill without anticipating its costs.

For Groscost, the fallout was more direct. He lost a Senate race in a district normally safe for Republicans, forcing the GOP into a 15-15 split with Democrats for two years.

Hull, who said the buck stopped with her because she signed the original bill without anticipating its potential costs, later said at the end of her term that the episode was a blemish on her gubernatorial tenure.

Several former legislative colleagues of Groscost said his commentary seemed sincere.

"At $3-plus a gallon of gasoline, I think a lot of people would agree with him and others that the time for alternative fuel is now," Rios said.

Lori Daniels, a Chandler Republican who was House majority leader when Groscost was speaker, said the apology rang true.

"I don't think he understood the ramifications. It was an honest mistake," she said. "At the time Jeff had no intention of that being the demise of his political career."


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