Who wouldn’t want more money in their pocket? As Bidenflation continues to crush the American people—and in particular the people of Arizona—our elected leaders should be looking for every way possible to provide relief.
Just look at the anti-tax mood among Arizona voters this past November. They rejected Prop 310, which would have increased the statewide sales tax by 0.1% to fund fire districts throughout Arizona. They voted down ill-conceived transportation taxes in Pinal County and Kingman. And they passed Prop 132 to protect against future tax increases. That should be proof enough that Arizonans want to ensure that their hard-earned dollars stay in their wallets. Now, a new bill recently passed by the Arizona Senate would do just that.
Sponsored by Republican Senator J.D. Mesnard, SB1577 would require the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to examine total revenue coming into the state. If they determine that there will be an ongoing budget surplus, the Arizona Department of Revenue will automatically apply half of the surplus toward a reduction in the individual income tax, which currently sits at a flat rate of 2.5%. And with Arizona currently sitting on a multi-billion dollar budget surplus, that means you would keep more of your money sooner rather than later.
Of course, Democrats and other liberal groups are up in arms. The Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE)—a leftist 501(c)(3) that’s been known to manipulate the tax code—even referred to this bill as an economic attack on our communities in a tweet last month. You read that right. They believe that cutting taxes for every person in Arizona who earns an income is an attack.
Maybe someone should tell ACE that it’s not just the state of Arizona sitting on a pile of cash. Many of our cities and towns are too. And the real attack is continuing to take money from Arizona citizens while city, state, and local governments stockpile more, and more, and more. The fact is that this is a great bill for every citizen in our state and will give them much-needed relief in the midst of a worsening economy, rising inflation, and high gas prices under President Biden.
But perhaps the left’s greatest concern is that they may not be able to rely on Katie Hobbs’ active veto pen to stop this one. Because if Hobbs does decide to veto it, the Arizona Senate also passed SCR1035, a ballot measure that would give voters the opportunity to approve this same exact tax cut. And given the recent attitude of the majority of Arizonans to taxes, they would likely look quite favorably upon SCR1035.
As both these bills now await their fate in the Arizona House, Republicans should look to continue the momentum from passing the largest tax cut in state history last year. It’s time to pass SCR1035 and send SB1577 to Katie Hobbs’ desk. She has a 10-year history of screwing taxpayers. Let’s see if she’s willing to do it again.
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