Senate OKs bill for rock ‘n’ roll theme park in Pinal County

The Associated Press

PHOENIX—An opponent’s silent filibuster failed to stop legislation to help finance a proposed rock ‘n’ roll theme park in Eloy, and the Legislature sent the bill to Gov. Janet Napolitano on Tuesday.

The bill would require the project’s backers to raise $100 million and secure financial guarantees for a $750 million bond issue by a special district. The tax-exempt bonds would be repaid from taxes on sales in the park, which would be exempt from property taxes.

Already approved by the House, the bill (SB1450) cleared the Senate on a 17-9 vote Tuesday.

That was after Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, refused to vote for more than 10 minutes after other senators finished voting.

“I’m still pondering my vote,” he said when asked whether he was ready to vote.

However, Senate President Tim Bee, R-Corona de Tucson, put a stop to it by having the Senate vote on a motion to “excuse” Gould from voting on the bill.

Gould later said he had intended his protest to go on much longer in an effect to kill the bill.

“The whole idea is to drive enough members off the floor so you don’t have a quorum,” and then force adjournment, he said. “I gotta use whatever technique I can to try to save the taxpayers money. This is going to come back to haunt us.”

While the bill would permit the backers to save on financing costs, retained lobbyists and legislative supporters call the project a jobs producer.

“It will create thousands of jobs and bring in millions of dollars to the state’s economy,” reducing the current reliance on the housing industry, said Sen. Thayer Verschoor, a Gilbert Republican who sponsored the bill (SB1450).