LD9 House incumbents– Dr. Randy Friese and I– will be the featured speakers at the Stop Thief community forum on tax giveaways on July 31 at the IBEW Hall.
As many of you are aware, Arizona is upside down on its mortgage. Thanks to years of Republican tax cuts, our state gives away more than $13 billion in taxes and spends just $10 billion to run the state. For years, the people of Arizona believed the lie that our state is broke. Now the veil has been lifted. The people realize that our state has plenty of revenue. The problem is that the majority of our Legislators vote to give the money away–rather than spend it on much-needed services– like public education.
Austerity is a lie. Arizona has the money to fund public education. The problem is: the Legislature gives our taxes away. It’s time to end crony capitalism in Arizona.
When the Arizona budget comes up short because of the tax giveaways, loopholes, and sweetheart deals, Republicans cut funds from K-12 education, the universities, the community colleges, healthcare, and environmental protections. OR they suggest raising sales tax to fill in the budget gaps caused by tax cuts for the rich and for the corporations. (Unfortunately, some Democrats go along with more tax cuts for the powerful and more sales tax for the rest of us.)
The Arizona Legislature should be funding the People’s To-Do List– education, healthcare, infrastructure, and safety and security– not the corporate wish list.
Come to this community forum and find out how we got here, what we can do about it, and how we can make our tax system fairer for the people of Arizona. Doors open at 6 p.m. Event starts at 6:30 p.m. After our brief remarks, there will be time for questions and small-group strategizing sessions.
The forum is hosted by the Pima Area Labor Federation and Progressive Democrats of America (PDA Tucson). Sponsors include: Alliance 4 Action, Arizona Education Association (AEA), AEA Retired, Arizona Educators United (AEU), A. Philip Randolph Institute, Pima County African American Democratic Caucus, Democrats of Greater Tucson (DGT), Pima County Education Democratic Caucus, The Arizona Ground Game (TAGG), Justice Alliance, Progressive Democrats of Southern Arizona, #RedForEd, Tanque Verde Democratic Club, Tucson Education Association, Vets for Peace-Tucson, Voices for Education, YWCA-Southern Arizona.
For more on tax giveaways and the Arizona Legislature, check out these additional blog posts.
What Did the 53rd Arizona Legislature Accomplish? (video)
Corporate Tax Giveaways Are Key Issue in LD9 Primary (video)
#TaxCuts & Deregulation: How Did Your #AZHouse Rep Vote?
With Massive Tax Cuts from Feds, Big Corps Don’t Need AZ Tax Giveaways (video)
Economic Inequality, Access to Care & Workforce Development: A Progressive Roadmap (video)
Balancing Responsibility & Liberty: The Yin & Yang of Public Policy
Public Banking & the Nonpartisan League: Is It Time for a Financial Revolution? (video)
(NOTE: The featured photograph shows the digital goods tax exemption vote in the House. Although we didn’t even know how much the state would lose with this broad exemption, it still passed the House on a bipartisan vote. Green = Yes. Luckily, the Senate was saner and didn’t hear this bill.)