State Senator Steve Farley will announce a three-point plan to restore education funding in Arizona when he publicly kicks off his bid for Governor on Monday at the Arizona Inn.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., at Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St. in Tucson. Event from 6 to 8:30 p.m. RSVP at https://goo.gl/2Q9rAe
At a jam-packed invitation-only fundraiser on Saturday, Farley said he was confident he could be incumbent, Goldwater Institute-backed Gov. Doug Ducey.
Introduced by former Congressman Ron Barber, Farley outlined a three-point plan to restore education funding in Arizona:
A K-12 system that is a foundation for opportunity system for all Arizonans, second to none.
“One if four children currently live in poverty. That’s not tolerable,” he said.
A university system that’s strengthened, not cut.
“That’s where the new industries will be coming from. And when people who go to university come up with new industries, they’re going to stay in Arizona. You won’t have to bribe them to come to Arizona. They’ll be here.”
A community college system that’s a lifelong institution for training and retraining.
“We’ve cut our K through 12 system by 21% since 2008. We’ve cut our university system by $2.5 billion. And we’ve cut off community colleges in Pima County and Maricopa County entirely from state funding.”
331 Corporate tax loopholes
Farley said the funding will come from closing 331 corporate tax loopholes that are in the sales tax code, which now bleed $13.7 billion a year from the state general fund.
“We’ve got to look at those and get rid of them. If we could get rid of $2 billion of them, we could lower the sales tax by a penny while increasing funding for education.”
Farley, age 54, is the son of two public school teachers, and said:
“Teachers work hard not because they’re getting paid well. Teachers work hard because they believe in their kids.”
“There’s absolutely no excuse that Governor Ducey and this legislature have cut our education system to the point where we have the lowest average teacher salaries in the country,” Farley said.
A captivating speaker, Farley is also smart. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College (Mass.) in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He has 11 years’ experience in the Arizona statehouse.
$9 million campaign goal
Farley said he needs to raise $9 million to fund his campaign. “Remember we’re fighting against the Koch brothers golden boy. He’s going to have a lot of money. We’re going to have a lot of money too. We may not match them. But we’ll add the money we’re going to be able to raise together with the face-to-cafe contact I’m going to try to have everyone in every town in this state,” Farley said.
“People are ready for change,” he said. “We can shine as an example for the country here in Arizona, where too often we’ve turned up as a joke on The Daily Show.”
Where is Ducey vulnerable?
“Most people don’t know Doug Ducey. And the people who know him don’t like him that much. He doesn’t feel like one of us. And the fact that he lies all the time. He says one thing but he does exactly the opposite. I’m going to remind people that he was the leader of the effort to kill $1 billion a year from education. He created the problem we’re trying to solve.”
Scuttlebutt:
Former Arizona state Representative Victoria Steele, who served for four years, will run for Farley’s vacant Senate seat. She is NOT running again for Congress.
Arizona state Representative Randall “Randy” Friese is considering a run against US Senator Jeff Flake. He is a Democratic member representing District 9 in Tucson.
There are 9 Democrats vying to run against Martha McSally:
- Matt Heinz – Ex-State Rep., Physician & ’12/’16 Candidate
- Lou Jordan – Retired USAF Colonel
- Ann Kirkpatrick – Ex-Congresswoman, Ex-State Rep., Ex-Sedona City Attorney & ’16 US Sen. Nominee
- Billy Kovacs – Hotel Manager & Marketing Consultant
- Jeff Latas – Airline Pilot, Businessman, USAF Veteran, Democratic Activist & ’06 Candidate
- Mary Sally Matiella – Ex-US Asst. Army Secretary & Accountant
- Joshua Polacheck – Ex-US Foreign Service Officer
- Charlie Verdin – Businessman
- Bruce Wheeler – Ex-State Rep.
Larry Bodine is a Precinct Committeeman, Precinct #238, in Tucson, AZ.
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Education is important, but so many other areas need to be touched. Most mormons are republicans , the only take care of themselves. The Temples should NOT be tax free , they are running a BUSINESS ! Look around folks the cult is running AZ !
Sean Noble (mormon brought the Koch brothers to AZ, the auditor General office (who is covering for state agencies that are mormon run, is made up of 30 year positions that are full of mormons in that office . That is were the money is being ‘audited ” . WHO is watching them ? the legislature, the senate the medical board, the nursing board, senators , the courts , all run by mormons! Ducey appointed Judges are all from the ‘mission creeps”. A gentile does not have a chance at justice . What is going to happen in that arena will get my vote and will campaign for . Right now Ducey is ignoring it all , he is the ONLY one that can oversee these agencies and is not ‘overseeing ” anything. ! He appoints them but responds “they are autologous ” in their decisions ! NO you cannot give an agency that much power, that is the problem . ANd allowing the director to remain in office over 3-4 decades ! That alone will give too much power .
Here are McSally’s current fundraising totals:
Campaign Cmte Fundraising, 2017 – 2018
Raised: $727,390
Spent: $438,520
Cash on Hand: $631,114
Debts: $218,039
Last Report: Friday, March 31, 2017
She will have raised plenty more by the time the election rolls around. Democrats need to plan ahead.
CD 2 Candidate Bruce Wheeler also served for 8 years on Tucson City Council.
I cannot count how many times I have been down the “Close the Corporate Sales Tax Loophole” path with Democrats. However, the bottom line is that almost all of these loopholes are based upon three of Arizona’s long-held and fair tax principles of:
1. Not taxing wholesale transactions because the final product is also taxed and that would be double taxation.
2. Not taxing services (Do you really want to pay a tax on your medical bills or haircuts, which are not corporate loopholes but consumer breaks.)
3. Not taxing food, prescriptions, medical equipment, etc.
I would love to see the list of 331 loopholes that Steve has identified. Has anybody seen them? Please let me know where to access them, so we can have a more targeted and specific discussion.
And please, let’s not talk about the exemption for 4 inch pipes, which turned out to only be for high pressure gas pipes, which if taxed would have had the cost passed on to the consumer as a utility company rate recoverable expense.
And by the way, why is a Democrat pushing to increase the sales tax, which Democrats always claim to be regressive?
This is more smoke and mirrors and a stealth tax increase on people.
There is not one legislator who should dare to say, “we just don’t have the money!” Not when billions leave the tax system via inumerable tax credits, deductions, subtractions from income, and sales tax exemptions. Don’t raise ANY taxes. Just do away with all those credits and exemptions, and deductions. In my Arizona Form 140 Residential Personal Income Tax book there were only 32 credits mentioned, the most obscene being the corporate CREDITS for donations to private school tuition organizations. Without all of these, we all could lower the income tax and sales tax rate for everyone. Yes, many special interests will squawk, but a tax system based on as wide a base as possible and a rate as small as possible is the fairest. I am sure EVERYONE of those credits, exemptions and deductions are all essential to economic development. Exempt nothing from sales tax. Why exempt services? And aren’t the Republicans always stating their goal is a simple tax system. This is it. They don’t seem to mention fairness, though. Or paybacks to special interest, now for the dark money help. Don’t even get started on the ACC here.
I cannot wait to see Farley’s list.
In the 2010 campaign, one of the events was a statewide candidate forum for small businesswomen. Every dem statewide candidate talked about all these loopholes and how they would close them.
Not single woman there connected the dots to realize they were talking about them, about taxing their dog grooming business where they were earning $26,000 per year, their bookkeeping service where they were earning $32,000 per year and their haircutting service where they were making $20,000 per year in their living room.
When we sent the bill over the House to tax all these services, it exploded in one gigantic fireball, not a single dem would support it.
The taxes on his wife would have cost the family of the dem minority whip $3,000.
Joe’ s Gas Station does not pay the vehicle gas tax, they just collect it. Mabel’s Motel does not pay the room tax. They just collect it.
Laura’s Dog Grooming does not pay the sales tax. They just collect it.
Wal Mart does not pay the sales tax. They just collect it. A very disingenuous argument.
Frances, go take a Economics 101 class.
That’s BS, John. To find out about the tax loopholes, come to the Arizona Inn at 6pm today. RSVP at https://goo.gl/2Q9rAe
Can’t make it but please post Farley’s loopholes tomorrow or provide a link to the list.
The JLBC publishes a report that lists all of the tax cuts, tax credits and tax subtractions. It shows $13 billion in giveaways– 331 of them– that are in statute. It lists every statute and is available on their website.
Why do big corporations who buy jet fuel in AZ get a volume discount break on sales tax when the single Mom on TANF (cash assistance) has to pay sales tax on every bag of diapers? Tax the poor and give it to the rich: that is the #AZGOP motto. #RobinHoodInReverse
The jet fuel break was part of a deal made long before I was elected to the legislature. It applied to one major airline and was part of a deal for them to keep their jet maintenence operation at Phoenix airport. It involved a lot of high paying jobs.
These breaks are not as simple as they appear to be.
…and Pamela, as a legislator you need to query staff on these issues before you jump to conclusions.
Yes, always check with your campaign donors before you do any work for the people of Arizona, make sure they’re getting paid first.
Never forget who you work for.
I said staff. Big difference Mr. Non-Tom.
My bad, sorry Johnny! I just can’t forget those headlines, you remember…
“Arizona Lawmaker Behind $900,000 Giveaway in Taxpayer Funds to Private Prison Company Received Campaign Donations from Same Firm”
So I just assumed, you know, that you have to clear things with your donors.
So, so sorry. Keep on not being corrupt! Thanks!
So Steve Farley said he is not running with Clean Elections funding. Since he will be taking donations, will that make him corrupt? Was DuVal corrupt? How about Obama?
Do you really believe that when donors give contributions to candidates whose views they support, it is an act of corruption?
Great job, Larry! Thanks for the recap.
liza I will tell you. latinos voted for hillary clinton out of fear of trump. they did not fear mcsally. just another gringo like ann “boots” kirkpatrick ys war monger mccain. latinos want a militant latina/latino to come out and vote for not some fred duval or ann kirkpatrick clone who looks like al franken. no more good government elitist liberal doofuses. I would rather see raul grivajalda run like bernie sanders. what a battle that would be with him getting plenty of free airtime!
Well, let’s hope they see things differently in 2018 because McSally is essentially a Trump surrogate. As of May 18, her Trump score is still at 100 %. She works hard at trying create a perception that she is all in for the people and she had some success with this in 2016. A lot of women saw her as a potential advocate. She isn’t, of course, and her unfaltering support for Trump really should get her out of CD2 in 2018, but I guess we’ll see what all that money buys (assuming she can raise as much as in 2016).
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/martha-mcsally/
Oh, that warrior thing. That’s another of McSally’s issues, presenting herself as a great warrior because of her military background. Now, I suppose that when a soldier gets elected to Congress we can be led to believe that this person is a fighter and will fight for us.
Well, so much for that. Anyone who votes with Trump 100 percent of the time isn’t fighting for the people, to say the least.
Censored, do you see any viable candidates on the list? Do you think any of these people can win?
If being in the military is somehow a qualification for office, then shouldn’t being a 5 time draft dodger disqualify someone for office?
Good point.
liza I am from phoenix and don’t know enough about the political make up of the district ;but someone different who is not beholding to the democratic party’s special interests for fund raising and tones down the political correctness motif might be able to do it. and remember gun control issue killd democratic chances in arizona. when I ran for office many years ago when asked my position on gun control at a debate. I said too many conservatives need shooting for me to support gun control!
“…too many conservatives need shooting…”
That’s funny but I guess they didn’t appreciate the joke.
actually they did. because they want me to lose the majority of arizonan’s pro 2nd amendment rights voter and I wouldn’t allow that to happen as the republicans laughed when I said it!
Steve Farley would make a great governor! A refreshing much needed change for Arizona. Let’s move into a better future for Arizona’s people and families.
Interesting list of potential Democratic candidates to run against McSally.
I’m looking at Ann Kirkpatrick’s 2016 election results in Pima County. Not bad.
KIRKPATRICK, ANN – 49%; 202,213 votes
MCCAIN, JOHN – 46%; 187,910 votes
The only other recognizable names are Matt Heinz, Jeff Latas, and Bruce Wheeler.
Does anyone have an analysis of why McSally won in 2016? I thought Matt Heinz was a great candidate. I know she had a hell of a lot more money than he did, but Hillary won CD2 and it would seem the Democrats had an advantage.
In fact, Hillary slayed in Pima County:
CLINTON, HILLARY – 54%; 224,661 votes
JOHNSON, GARY – 3.8%; 15,620 votes
STEIN, JILL – 1%; 6,200 votes
TRUMP, DONALD J. – 40%; 167,428 votes
How in the blazes did McSally win?
One of you Democrats who knows everything please come forward. We need to understand this.
West side of Tucson is CD3, which is a lot more heavily minority, skews younger, etc. In addition, all of Cochise County is CD2, and that’s a pretty heavy GOP county. If you looked at just the CD2 race based on the Pima County numbers, I think you would get some different numbers for a more accurate representation of the vote this past November.
Yeah, the GOP candidate will have a definite advantage in Cochise County and Pima County, of course, is not all in the same congressional district.
Yet, in 2014, Rep Ron Barber lost CD2 to McSally by a handful of votes. And Hillary won CD2 in 2016 with a good margin. So, something else is going on here when McSally can win CD2 so decisively after two years of not doing a damn thing except toeing the line for the GOP. All that money surely made a difference but what else?
How enthusiastically did the Democratic party or the DCCC support Matt Heinz, I wonder?
Here’s McSally’s final 2016 fundraising information:
Raised: $7,699,932
Spent: $7,826,194
Cash on Hand: $342,244
Debts: $327,833
Last Report: Saturday, December 31, 2016
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00033982&type=I&newmem=N
By contrast, Matt Heinz numbers look like this:
Matt Heinz (D)
Raised: $1,576,123
Spent: $1,576,119
Final Report: December 31, 2016
https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?ID=AZ02&Cycle=2016
Okay, so there’s one of our problems. If these Republicans can outspend a Democrat by five or six times then it’s not going to be easy or even likely that we can unseat them, even the ones in vulnerable congressional districts.
So, what else was there about this election?
Anyone?
Good grief, look at this. Ann Kirkpatrick only raised about 1.5 million more than McSally to run in a statewide election. But, of course, it was mostly from individual contributions.
Campaign Cmte Fundraising, 2015 – 2016
Raised: $9,136,500
Spent: $9,123,541
Cash on Hand: $12,982
Debts: $0
Last Report: Saturday, December 31, 2016
Campaign Cmte Fundraising, 2015 – 2016
Raised: $9,136,500
Spent: $9,123,541
Cash on Hand: $12,982
Debts: $0
Last Report: Saturday, December 31, 2016
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00029260
Sorry for redundancy.