Education tax measure certified for November Arizona ballot
4 years, 4 months ago

Education tax measure certified for November Arizona ballot

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona’s Secretary of State has certified that a voter initiative that would boost taxes on high-earning Arizonans to increase school funding will be on the November ballot. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs announced Friday that a sample of petition sheets sent to county recorders came back with enough verified signatures for the Invest in Education Act to qualify for the ballot. The certification means voters will see just two initiatives this November, the education tax and a recreational marijuana legalization initiative, which will be Proposition 207. Separately, a lower court judge ruled that backers of another initiative overhauling the state’s criminal sentencing laws failed to collect enough qualifying signatures to make the ballot.

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History of this topic

New Arizona governor wants to undo school voucher expansion
1 year, 11 months ago

New Arizona governor wants to undo school voucher expansion

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to undo a massive expansion of a school voucher program championed last year by her GOP predecessor and other Republicans that lets students apply to use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. In releasing its budget proposals Friday, the governor’s office said the expansion is siphoning money from underfunded …

Huge Arizona school voucher plan in effect after foes fail
2 years, 2 months ago

Huge Arizona school voucher plan in effect after foes fail

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — All Arizona parents now can use state tax money to send their children to private or religious schools or pay homeschooling costs after an effort by public school advocates to block a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher law failed to collect enough signatures to block it. He celebrated on Twitter, saying “Let’s Roll!” and “Parents …

Massive Arizona income tax cut going into full effect
2 years, 2 months ago

Massive Arizona income tax cut going into full effect

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A massive Arizona income tax cut that mainly benefits the wealthy championed by GOP Gov. The flat tax plan eliminates the state’s old graduated income tax scale, which started at 2.59% and had a maximum tax of 4.5% for income over $159,000 a year for a single person. “A household with $70,000 a year gets a $58 annual …

Foes of Arizona school vouchers file to block huge expansion
2 years, 3 months ago

Foes of Arizona school vouchers file to block huge expansion

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. “But we have enough that we feel confident that with the validity of our signatures we can turn in and get through the processing and get it on the ballot.” Voucher opponents …

Arizona governor touts school voucher plan, slams opponents
2 years, 4 months ago

Arizona governor touts school voucher plan, slams opponents

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and backers of universal school vouchers took a victory lap Tuesday over legislation the Republican-controlled Legislature enacted in June giving the state the nation’s most expansive voucher system, and he also used the time to attack backers of public schools who are trying to block the measure at the ballot. “There’s no one-size …

Arizona OKs biggest US school voucher plan, faces challenge
2 years, 5 months ago

Arizona OKs biggest US school voucher plan, faces challenge

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Republican Gov. The expansion Ducey signed will let every parent in Arizona take public money now sent to the K-12 public school system and use it to pay for their children’s private school tuition or other education costs. “Our network of volunteers across the state are pumped and ready.” Lewis and other public school advocates say vouchers take …

School's out forever: Arizona moves "to kill public education" with new universal voucher law
2 years, 5 months ago

School's out forever: Arizona moves "to kill public education" with new universal voucher law

Salon  

Last Friday, while the country reeled from the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, Arizona made history of a different sort. In practice, the law will now give parents who opt out of public schools a debit card for roughly $7,000 per child that can be used to pay for private school tuition, but also for much more: for religious …

Arizona lawmakers approve bipartisan $18 billion budget
2 years, 6 months ago

Arizona lawmakers approve bipartisan $18 billion budget

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona’s legislature approved a bipartisan $18 billion spending plan early Thursday that will make substantial investments in public schools, build new highways and pay down long-term debts. The budget also makes a $1.1 billion deposit into the pension fund for public safety and corrections officers, paying off the state’s unfunded liability for future retirement benefits. “With this budget, …

Arizona lawmakers begin hearings on state budget plan
2 years, 6 months ago

Arizona lawmakers begin hearings on state budget plan

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature began hearings Tuesday on a long-delayed state budget plan that was immediately panned by some Democrats and public school advocates for failing to use a huge surplus to significantly boost school funding. Critics call the plan’s new school funding miserly, especially when the state is sitting on a unprecedented $5.3 billion surplus even with …

Arizona Supreme Court reinstates massive income tax cuts
2 years, 8 months ago

Arizona Supreme Court reinstates massive income tax cuts

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the state’s voters do not have the right to reject a massive income tax cut approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. The coalition of progressive groups that backed the referendum slammed the Supreme Court for “stripping the rights of everyday Arizonans, in an attempt to protect the rich.” “The …

Cash-flush Arizona lawmakers seek options to budget impasse
2 years, 8 months ago

Cash-flush Arizona lawmakers seek options to budget impasse

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona is flush with cash but lawmakers are weeks into an impasse over the coming year’s state budget and now looking at unusual solutions to try to break the logjam. Republicans who hold just one-vote majorities in both the Senate and House began openly talking about enacting a “continuation budget,” that funds government at only the current year’s …

Voter-approved Arizona education tax dead after court ruling
2 years, 9 months ago

Voter-approved Arizona education tax dead after court ruling

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A judge on Friday declared that a tax on high-earning Arizona residents to fund education spending that voters approved in 2020 can’t be enforced because of a state Supreme Court ruling and ordered its collection permanently blocked. The ruling from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah was widely expected after the Supreme Court ruled in August that …

Arizona House OK's big loopholes for new tax on wealthy
3 years, 5 months ago

Arizona House OK's big loopholes for new tax on wealthy

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The proposal passed despite unified opposition from minority Democrats It creates a new small …

Ducey talks disdain for new education tax, vows fast fix
3 years, 9 months ago

Ducey talks disdain for new education tax, vows fast fix

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A new voter-approved tax on high-earning Arizonans that will boost education spending is firmly in Gov. Doug Ducey’s crosshairs, with the Republican vowing Friday to see Proposition 208’s new tax cancelled either through the courts or the GOP-controlled Legislature. If that effort fails, Ducey said he’s working with House and Senate leaders to come up with ways to …

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