HB2704 creates a new funding model for Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team. Beginning October 1, 2025, a portion of state and local transaction privilege taxes from retail, amusement, restaurant, and contracting activities at the stadium—along with county excise taxes and state income taxes from Diamondbacks players—will be redirected into the Maricopa County Stadium District Fund. The money can only be used for constructing, equipping, repairing, maintaining, or improving the facility and related structures. Additionally, the bill requires separate accounting for these revenues and includes mechanisms to protect against the Diamondbacks relocating prematurely by implementing penalties. The funding arrangement is capped, inflation-adjusted, and set to run through December 31, 2055, contingent on the franchise's continued tenancy.
The Arizona State House of Representatives passed HB2704 on June 23, 2025 by a vote of 35 to 20. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill extends government subsidies to a private, professional sports franchise — a function not authorized by the Arizona Constitution under the Gift Clause (Article IX), which states, "Neither the state, nor any county, city, town, municipality, or other subdivision of the state shall ever give or loan its credit in the aid of, or make any donation or grant, by subsidy or otherwise, to any individual, association, or corporation." Redirecting public tax revenue to fund facility upgrades for a Major League Baseball team exceeds the proper, limited role of government and forces taxpayers to underwrite a private, for-profit enterprise. Forcing the people of Arizona to furnish proliferate amounts of taxpayer money to fund crony, corporate-sponsored spending bills violates their individual liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.