A strong economy is a key piece of the foundation for any society. But while the Biden administration has been busy doing anything it can to destroy the economic climate in America over the past four years, Arizona is set up for success—not just for today, but for decades to come.
Last month, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its latest “Rich States, Poor States” report, and the Grand Canyon State received the number three ranking for economic outlook among all 50 states. Such a high rank is impressive enough on its own, but when you consider that our state was ranked 13 back in 2021, Arizona’s dramatic rise up the chart especially shines. So, how did we get here?
Pro-Growth Policies Have Led the Way
Arizona’s high ranking is a direct result of significant pro-growth income and property tax reform that have supercharged our economy. In just the last decade, we have cut taxes on capital gains and drastically reduced the property tax burden on small businesses. Then, in July 2021, the Free Enterprise Club helped lead the charge as the Republican-led legislature passed a 2.5% flat tax, delivering historic tax cuts for every single Arizona taxpayer. And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans also included tax relief for Arizona’s families in last year’s state budget to help with the growing cost of gas, groceries, housing, and energy under the Biden administration.
Each of these pro-growth policies have set up Arizona as a leader in the country with many other states looking to mirror these reforms, but if the left had gotten its way, we never would have been here.
Stopping the Left’s Push to Double Arizona’s Income Tax
For five years, the left fought to give our state one of the highest income tax rates in the country. And after an ugly campaign where Red4Ed deceived voters and spent more than $23 million, Prop 208 barely passed in Arizona with only 51% of the vote—doubling our income tax. But in a case that the Free Enterprise Club joined as a plaintiff, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down the unconstitutional tax hike. Then, a superior court judge put the final nail in the coffin of Prop 208 when he ruled that the money raised from the tax would exceed the constitutional spending limit for education. But the battle was far from over.
Red4Ed immediately set its sights on Arizona’s historic flat tax, spending over $5 million to hire an army of paid circulators to put a referendum on the ballot to block the tax cuts from going into effect. But after the referendum was submitted, the Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of the ballot referral because it did not comply with the “support and maintenance” clause in our state’s Constitution.
Once again, we defeated the teachers’ union when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against the referendum and issued another big win for taxpayers. But we knew these rulings wouldn’t stop the left from trying to jack up taxes at a later date.
Protecting Taxpayers from Future Increases
It’s clear that the left has an insatiable desire to take more of your hard-earned money and put it into their coffers. In the case of Prop 208, they were able to do that by winning only 51% of the vote (until the court system killed it). But allowing 51% of the population (who may not have to pay a tax increase) to vote to tax the other 49% is wrong. That’s why the Club also led the charge on Prop 132, a constitutional amendment that requires a 60% majority vote of the people on any ballot measure that seeks to raise taxes.
The ballot initiative passed in 2022, ensuring that if the people of Arizona are asked to part with more of their paycheck, it will require a broad agreement from every part of the state.
Now, it is critical to keep all these reforms in place. Slashing income taxes and increasing the approval threshold for future tax hikes has made Arizona a destination for both families and entrepreneurs. And if we stay on this path, our state is on track to continue its route of economic growth and perhaps one day see that number one ranking.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
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The Biden administration and his liberal allies have been moving at warp speed to impose their radical agenda on the American people. From banning gas cars and gas stoves to adopting race-based DEI programs in our schools, proposals that would have seemed preposterous just 5 years ago have now become mainstream positions within the Democrat party.
Nothing appears to be off limits, and that even includes our ability to travel in our automobiles without having the government monitor, limit, and tax our vehicle miles traveled (VMT).
All throughout the country, there are efforts by government bureaucrats and climate change zealots to adopt these authoritarian VMT tax schemes. They are all motivated to eliminate carbon emissions and create a new revenue stream for expensive and rarely used transit projects.
For instance, tucked in the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Biden administration was a pilot program for a VMT tax that would monitor your miles traveled in your vehicle while charging you a fee for any miles you do travel. And if you’re driving a gas-powered car, buckle up because now you’ll get to pay two taxes. That’s right. The gas tax certainly won’t be going away. If VMT taxes are implemented, they will be in addition to—not in replacement of—gas taxes.
San Diego has also been exploring a vehicle miles tax for a while now, proposing a plan in 2021 that would have charged motorists 4 cents per mile to pay for expanded bus service and rail in the region. Liberal politicians were gushing over the proposal, and even liked the idea of charging extra to high income households or on large vehicles they deemed to be not “eco-friendly.” The plan was finally shelved late last year thanks to resounding opposition from citizens.
Tracking, limiting and taxing our vehicle miles traveled is a dream scenario for those pushing a radical environmental agenda. With VMT taxes, they get to track your miles, take away your privacy, force you out of your car, and limit your freedom all while charging you a fee to do so. That punishment is bad enough for daily commuters, but can you imagine living in rural areas that have to travel greater distances for work and other necessities? It’s almost as if this is a part of a bigger agenda to bring about 15-minute cities.
That’s exactly why the Arizona Free Enterprise Club is working to put the Freedom to Move Act on the ballot this November.
This proposed measure is the first of its kind in the nation. As a constitutional amendment, it would prohibit the state, cities, towns, and counties from imposing a Vehicle Miles Traveled tax and limiting or monitoring vehicles miles traveled by an individual—whether they are using a gas-powered car or an EV. And while EV owners certainly need to pay for the roads too, taxing individuals by the mile is no way to address this issue. There are more practical solutions to make sure that EV owners pay for the roads that are far less draconian and don’t result in owners of gas cars paying both a gas tax and a VMT tax.
In the meantime, VMT taxes are a real threat right now. Allowing the government to track our miles will have devastating impacts on our privacy rights. And VMT taxes will punish any form of driving all while promoting a radical environmental and social agenda.
It’s time for Arizona lawmakers to bring this issue before the people. In the midst of inflated prices and a still struggling national economy, our state’s citizens can’t afford another outrageous tax. And they certainly don’t deserve to live in fear of being taxed, tracked, or limited in the miles they can travel. Let’s give the voters an opportunity to say no to this radical agenda. Let’s give them the opportunity to protect their freedom to move.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
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When you’re hired to do a job, it stands to reason that you should actually do the job you’ve been hired to do. Think about it. If a company hired you to be a writer, and you never did any writing for the company, you probably wouldn’t keep your job too long. That is, of course, unless you work for the government.
For quite some time now, federal, state, and local governments across the country—including right here in Arizona—have been engaging in the practice of “release time.” If you’re unfamiliar with this term, it means that certain people are hired to do a specific job for the government, but instead of doing that job, they are “released” to work full-time for their union. This could be someone like a teacher, for example, who instead of teaching students, spends all his or her time doing work for the teachers’ union. But here’s the thing, even though these employees don’t actually work for the government, they still get a paycheck from the government—all funded by your tax dollars.
Is this practice unfair? Yes. Is it unconstitutional? Absolutely.
That’s why the Goldwater Institute has been challenging this practice in our state in a case that has made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court called Gilmore v. Gallego. In this case, the City of Phoenix entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a union called the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 2384, Field Unit II (AFSCME). Under the agreement, the City must provide AFSCME with the following to the tune of $499,000 annually:
Four full-time release positions for union members where they can engage exclusively in union activities.
An annual bank of up to 3,183 release time hours permitted to be used for union purposes.
150 release time hours provided for union members to attend seminars, lectures, and conventions.
Up to $14,000 the City will reimburse the union so union members can attend employee-relations skill training.
This is outrageous! So, in support of Goldwater’s lawsuit, the Free Enterprise Club and the Grand Canyon Legal Center filed an amicus brief for two distinct reasons.
First, under the MOU, all employees are being charged the cost of the release time, whether they are members of the labor union or not. This is a direct violation of the First Amendment and the Arizona Constitution. Freedom of speech not only includes the right to speak freely, but also includes the right to choose not to speak. And in this circumstance, the City of Phoenix is forcing non-union members to pay for a union to engage in speech that they may not necessarily agree with.
Second, if the release time is being funded by the City of Phoenix, then it violates the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause, which prohibits the government from giving money to private organizations without getting something in return. Clearly, release time does not serve a public purpose. In fact, the unions actually bargain on behalf of the private financial interests of government employees against the public. As a result, the government employees may receive a benefit in the form of a higher salary, but taxpayers receive no such benefit. Instead, taxpayers only receive higher taxes.
For both these reasons, the Arizona Supreme Court should strike down this illegal practice in our state. No government employee should be getting paid to conduct union work. Instead, the state’s highest court should restore some common sense and ensure that government employees are only paid to perform the duties of the jobs they were hired to do.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
If you look up “failure” in the dictionary, it’s probably only a matter of time until you start seeing images of Katie Hobbs’ time as Governor of Arizona. Hobbs kicked off her reign back in January and immediately got off to a rocky start. After being in office for just over a month, Hobbs had her inauguration fund called into question, had her pick to lead the Arizona Democratic Party rejected, and was booed at the 16th Hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
If that wasn’t enough, Hobbs’ nominations for agency directors have been a complete disaster. Her pick to lead the Department of Health Services, Dr. Theresa Cullen, was rejected for her COVID imperialism. Her nominee for Housing Director was rejected due to a history of plagiarism. And she was forced to withdraw her nominee for Arizona Registrar of Contractors, former Democratic State Senator Martín Quezada, over his alliance with antisemitic extremism. It’s no wonder why Hobbs was listed as one of the least popular governors in the nation.
That’s probably why Hobbs is willing to do anything she can to get some good publicity, but her latest stunt was another misfire…and broke the law.
At the end of October, Hobbs tweeted out a message patting herself on the back for putting money back in the pockets of many Arizona families. Her administration then followed that up with a letter from the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) that directed families who would be receiving the tax rebate to the Governor’s website.
But there were a couple of problems.
The Arizona Families Tax Rebate Program was spearheaded by a group of Republican lawmakers known as the Arizona Freedom Caucus, and Hobbs wanted no part of it as it made its way through the legislature. On top of that, when SB1734 was passed and eventually signed by Hobbs, the bill included a line stating that no letter relating to the rebate should be sent from the Governor’s office, be sent on the Governor’s letterhead, or reference the Governor’s office.
Whoops…maybe Hobbs should use that private school education she received to actually read the bills she signs. Or maybe she’s just another Democrat opportunist looking to take credit for the work of Republicans.
The fact of the matter is that, before becoming Governor, Katie Hobbs had a history of opposing tax cuts for families while making it a habit to support multiple tax hikes. And the initial budget plan she released back in January was one big liberal wish list that would’ve required more money out of the pockets of Arizona taxpayers. But thankfully, the Republican-led legislature recognized that after three years of Democrat control of the federal government, Arizona families needed relief from the rising cost of gas, groceries, housing, and energy. So, at a time when the government has been flush with cash, they got to work on a structurally balanced budget that returns nearly $300 million to hardworking taxpayers.
It’s a great idea, which is probably why Katie Hobbs wants to take credit for it. But instead, she chose to break the law—hanging ADOR Director Robert Woods out to dry and leaving him potentially liable for $2 million in illegally spent funds, a 20 percent penalty, court costs, and attorneys’ fees. While Hobbs did eventually cave by editing the remaining tax rebate letters after Senator Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma sent her a cease-and-desist letter, the damage had already been done. And it’s just another failure in a year that’s been filled with them for Arizona’s Democrat Governor.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
For the Democrats and their sycophant media allies, the problem is always too much parental choice in education and letting taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned money. Yet this narrative couldn’t be further from the truth. A closer look at Arizona’s budget and the projected budget deficit reveals that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
Projected Budget Shortfall Is a Spending Problem
Just 5 years ago, the legislature enacted the FY 2019 budget that included $10.1 billion in on-going spending, plus $500M in “one-time” expenditures ($10.7 billion total). By last year, that number had exploded to nearly $15 Billion in ongoing spending, a 50% growth in ongoing spending in 5 years! The most recent budget negotiated with Democrat Katie Hobbs earlier this year kept ongoing spending at a lower trajectory but included “one-time” outlays that brought the total budget cost to $17.8B.
The truth is that Arizonans continue to be overtaxed. And even with the largest tax cut in state history, tax revenue has continued to climb, largely due to the decision by state lawmakers in 2019 to start taxing online sales. That one change in our sales tax collection has resulted in BILLIONS in new revenue for state and local governments. Yet the media and the left only want to talk about the income tax cut, not all the tax hikes Arizonans have endured.
Record Levels of K-12 Spending
Along with bashing our much-needed income tax cuts, the left has targeted school choice as the other culprit for the budget deficit. Since universal expansion was enacted last year, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) are now providing over 60,000 families the freedom to make educational decisions for themselves, instead of being locked into government schools. According to the teachers’ union and math-challenged educrat organizations, ESAs are costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars and diverting funds from district schools.
In fact, the legislature had to vote this year (for the second year in a row) to override the constitutional expenditure limit for government schools. This spending limit was overwhelmingly supported by voters to protect against runaway spending. The waiver this year, which requires a 2/3 majority to authorize, was to the tune of $1.4 billion, more than three times the potential budget shortfall.
As for the claim that ESAs are costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, the reality is the opposite. According to an excellent analysis by Matt Beienburg at the Goldwater Institute, ESAs represent only a tiny fraction of all K-12 school spending, and taxpayers actually save money when a parent decides to leave a district school to attend a charter or private school.
Additionally, during COVID the federal government was spending trillions of dollars racking up the federal debt and inflation. That has thrown off budget projections nationwide, and most states are now seeing a slowing of tax revenue leading to potential deficits.
Budget Deficit Presents Opportunity for Long Overdue Spending Restraint
The current budget volatility Arizona is experiencing shouldn’t be that big of a surprise to anyone who has been following local and national trends. State governments around the nation are dealing with volatile budget projections, falling tax revenue, and widening budget deficits. And in every case, runaway spending has been the culprit.
So, the solution is simple: reduce spending to be more in line with what population and inflation growth has been over the last five years. Republicans did the best they could with Katie Hobbs on the 9th Floor, who vetoed their first fiscally responsible budget proposal. We don’t expect Hobbs and her spend happy allies to be any easier to work with next year, so fiscal hawks in the legislature will have their work cut out for them.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
“Don’t California our Arizona.” It’s a saying we’ve had around here for quite some time, and for good reason. Not only is California known for having ridiculously high tax rates, but woke policies in the state have:
The list could go on and on. But it’s pretty clear. California’s policies have been a disaster, so much so that the state once ran out of U-Hauls because so many people were leaving. And yet, despite all this, Arizona lawmakers still decided to send your hard-earned dollars to woke Hollywood liberals through a movie tax credit bill last year. And while we hate to say we told you so, that decision now appears to be coming back to haunt Arizonans.
Earlier this week, it was announced that DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg’s political operation will be joining forces with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to launch a PAC here in our state. And what is the PAC’s primary goal? Making sure Democrats win control of our state legislature! And you can be certain that Hobbs will gladly reward her woke allies in Hollywood with your tax dollars—all the while fighting to stop Arizona’s kids from receiving $7,000 to pursue an educational experience that works for them.
This is the exact reason why the Club fought so heavily against the movie tax credit bill (HB2156) in the first place. The legislation gives movie companies refundable tax credit subsidies up to 15 percent if they spend up to $10 million in productions costs, 17.5 percent if they spend between $10 million and $35 million, and 20 percent if they spend over $35 million. Plus, there’s an opportunity for an additional 2.5 percent if the movie company meets other criteria. With the average cost of making a movie over $100 million, that means the vast majority of movie companies will benefit from the highest possible percentage.
So how much of your tax dollars will be given away to liberal movie studios like DreamWorks that want to turn Arizona Blue?
$75 million in 2023
$100 million in 2024
And $125 million in 2025 and each year thereafter
But our state has to be getting jobs or something else out of this, right? Wrong. Countless studies on Hollywood subsidies conducted by both liberal and conservative economists have concluded that these tax credit schemes are a ripoff. One recent study found that despite $10 billion in taxpayer spending, there was no statistically significant impact on employment. Womp…womp…
That means the only thing Arizonans have to look forward to thanks to this ridiculous piece of legislation is Hollywood liberals like Jeffrey Katzenberg leveraging cash from Arizona taxpayers to push their woke agenda and elect Democrats. All while making movies bashing America using our state as the backdrop.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
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