Wednesday, May 19, 2010

No New Taxes!! Arizona Voters Sing a Different Tune


Link to May 19 stateline.org article, "Arizona vote muddies anti-tax narrative.  (Thanks to Mark Arend for the heads-up!)

Excerpt: Voters in Oregon and Pennsylvania chose their major-party candidates for governor on Tuesday (May 18), while Arizona’s electorate handed Governor Jan Brewer a significant victory by easily approving a temporary hike in the state sales tax.

The Arizona vote allows state lawmakers to avoid much deeper spending cuts than those already approved earlier this year — including the elimination of all-day kindergarten and reduction of health care services for the poor. The measure, which takes effect in two weeks, generates much-needed revenue by raising the sales tax by a penny per dollar, to 6.6 cents, for three years. It is expected to bring in about $1 billion per year.

Notably, the outcome in Arizona runs counter to a common national narrative about 2010 being a sharply anti-tax yea
r.

Link to May 19 Arizona Republic article, "Arizona votes approve Prop 100".

Excerpt: Education appeared to be the winning ingredient. The Yes on 100 campaign relied heavily on appeals to the needs of schools and noted repeatedly that two-thirds of the revenue would go to education.

It's a temporary measure which expires on May 1, 2013.

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