On Tuesday, the Arizona State Senate, by a 16 -13 vote, gave final approval to HB2220, the state equalization property tax repeal. (AZ Rep article here)
The bill, if now signed into law by Governor Napolitano, would repeal a dedicated source of funding for education (dedicated to the tune of $250 million). The tax has been temporarily suspended as part of a deal reached in 2006 while the state's treasury was full, and the state could afford to fully fund education via funds from other sources.
Now, the deal to suspend the tax is expiring and the state is facing a huge, $3 billion, deficit.
The Republican caucus in the senate, with the notable exceptions of Sens. Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) and Tom O'Halleran (R-Sedona), voted to place their radical right anti-education ideology above the needs of the state's financial stability and its future. The Republicans were aided by Democratic Senator Ken Cheuvront (D-Phoenix), who gave them the 16th vote that they needed to actually pass the bill.
As noted in the Rep article, the state's business community is mounting a campaign to pressure the Governor to ignore the state's fiscal crisis and sign the bill into law.
Right now, she is only hearing the voices of those concerned with short-term profits or with foisting an extremeist ideology on the rest of society.
Instead, she needs to hear the voices of teachers, students, parents, and anyone who views Arizona as a 'home' to be built, protected, and treasured, not just a 'profit center' to be milked and discarded.
The contact page of the Governor's website is here; keep your message short, polite, and clear -
Veto HB2220.
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