Education advocates file to block massive Arizona tax cuts
PHOENIX (AP) — A group of public education advocates on Tuesday filed enough signatures to at least temporarily block a massive tax cut championed by Republicans in the Arizona Legislature and a second tax cut aimed at exempting small-business owners from a new tax on the wealthy.
But the Invest in Arizona Now coalition fell short of filing on a third tax cut bill that caps income taxes at the current 4.5% rate. That measure shields high-earning Arizona taxpayers from a 3.5% surcharge approved by voters last year when they passed Proposition 208.
Tuesday’s filing prevents two of the three tax cut bills enacted by the Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey in late June from taking effect as scheduled on Wednesday. They would cut taxes by nearly $2 billion a year by phasing in a flat 2.5% income tax rate that mainly benefits the wealthy.
Education advocates turned in more than 215,000 signatures to block the big tax cut, far more than the 118,823 needed to put the law on hold until November 2022 when voters can weigh in. The small business exemption is on much shakier footing, with referendum backers only filing about 123,500 signatures.
The coalition of education advocates argue that the new tax cuts will prevent the Legislature from boosting funding for schools and other important spending priorities. Arizona is near the bottom for school funding among the 50 states and teachers remain among the lowest-paid in the country despite a 20% raise they won after a 2018 statewide strike.
