Arizona Newspapers To Keep Incorporation Revenue

By Dennis Lambert
Published: Friday, March 7, 2014 - 9:26am
Updated: Friday, March 7, 2014 - 12:26pm
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Arizona newspapers will keep a built-in government source of revenue, at least for now.

Under state law, new corporations are required to publish their articles of incorporation three times in a newspaper. Representative John Kavanagh says that’s both outdated and redundant. He says the same info is available on the Corporation Commission’s website.

Newspaper owners and publishers claim there’s a need for independent verification of the information, which they provide. Kavanagh doesn’t buy it.

“If we use that philosophy, we would require every auto manufacturer to put a buggy whip in the trunk because we would not want those buggy whip manufacturers to go out of business with the advent of the automobile,” Kavanagh said. “This is an anti-business favor to newspapers.”

Still, the majority supported the newspapers, even though Kavanagh claims the requirement costs Arizona businesses $12 million a year.