Other articles by Daniel Scarpinato:

Redo budget, Brewer tells lawmakers Senate sends bill for Pima baseball-tax vote to Brewer Legislators OK change to Tucson elections Gov. Brewer follows through on veto threat, orders lawmakers to return GOP legislative leaders try to save budget deal Political notebook : Sanford letter had unfortunate timing Tax proposals stall action until Monday Two Minutes with a Lawmaker : Republican senator discusses liberty, gov't, air conditioning Political Notebook: Sanford letter 'bummer' for Ariz. think tankGOP leaders, Brewer have budget deal

Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists

The ad: A 30-spot for Republican Tim Bee.

The race: Congressional District 8, where Bee is challenging incumbent Democrat Gabrielle Giffords.

The medium: Television.

The message: "Tim Bee. A reputation for effectiveness," an announcer says. "Putting taxpayers and common sense first."

Several statements are then made that are meant to be linked to Bee:

● "Increased child care services."

● "Record funding for (university) labs and technology research."

● "Record . . . education funding."

● "Hundreds of millions of dollars in economic expansion" and "creating jobs."

The intent: To highlight Bee's leadership in the state Senate, where he was president in 2007 and 2008 and majority leader from 2003 to 2006.

Fact check: Bee is mostly taking credit for spending increases, tax cuts and grants included in state budgets that he supported and helped negotiate, though some of the items in those budgets were actually pet causes of Democrats, including Gov. Janet Napolitano.

● Child care services: The state has increased funding for Child Protective Services while Bee has been in his leadership positions. Funding went from $11.1 million in 2005 to $25.2 million in 2007. Lawmakers protected the agency from cuts this year, and provided $5 million in additional money to allow CPS to hire about 80 additional workers.

● University construction: The state budget package approved by the Legislature in June includes a provision to finance $1 billion in new buildings and renovations at the state's three universities by encouraging people to spend more in playing the Arizona Lottery. The budget passed because Bee and a handful of other Republicans struck a deal with Democrats.

In 2003, the Legislature also agreed to spend $440 million to build new university research facilities. Bee and Giffords — who was also in the state Senate at the time — were two of 75 co-sponsors. The Legislature has 90 members.

● Education funding: Education spending is actually always setting "record" levels in Arizona, even if the number of students doesn't increase. Proposition 301, approved by voters in 2000, requires annual inflationary increases in state aid to schools.

Bee, though, has voted for budgets that go beyond that. In 2006, Bee supported a budget deal that provided $100 million for teacher pay and $160 million for all-day kindergarten.

But while the share of state money going to schools has increased, the amount local school districts spend in the classroom has actually consistently gone down over the past four years. Last year, it was approximately 57.9 cents out of every dollar, 3 cents per dollar lower than the national average.

● Economic expansion: "Hundreds of millions" has been spent, if "economic expansion" is defined broadly. And what constitutes such an investment is a matter of opinion.

Bee is including state money for tax cuts, highway construction, a grant program called Science Foundation Arizona and Downtown Tucson redevelopment in his assessment.

Bee's Web site says he "spearheaded the largest tax cuts in Arizona history" — a reference to a $340 million package Bee supported in 2006 that suspended a state property tax for three years and cut income taxes by 10 percent for two years.

Republicans sought to extend the property tax cut this year, but Napolitano vetoed it. On the last night of the legislative session, a ballot measure that would have asked voters to repeal the tax on their own died under Bee's watch as the Senate became engrossed in a debate over gay marriage.

The Star's ongoing evaluation of the record versus the rhetoric in campaign ads