NEWS UPDATES
2020 Democrat Tax Hike Plan: $5.73 BILLION DOLLARS
For years Democrats have complained that virtually every government program in Arizona is underfunded because of all the “draconian” tax cuts that have occurred. Given that most national rankings show Arizona is middle of the pack among states when it comes to overall...
Pro-Growth Recommendations on Rolling Back Tax Increases
As the Club highlighted last week, through a combination of economic growth and tax and fee increases, Arizona is likely to have a budget surplus this year approaching $1 Billion dollars. Adding to this figure was news announced on Friday that the state expects to...
Tale of Two Districts: Parents Fleeing Phoenix Union Turns K-12 Funding Narrative on its Head
Since 1994, when Arizona passed legislation to allow students to “open enroll” in a district school outside their boundary, families have been taking advantage of the power of school choice. Open enrollment’s popularity is evident when you consider approximately half...
Arizona Should Follow Trump’s Lead by Pushing for Transparency in Healthcare Costs
Strong hospital and insurance lobbies have long strived to block efforts in the state to give consumers more information about what health care services cost. Just last year, there was a bill at the legislature to require hospitals to provide the relative costs of...
Education Groups Demand More K-12 Funding While School Districts go on Administration Spending Spree
Here is an under-reported education fact: K-12 schools in Arizona have received over $1 Billion in new funding from the state over the last two years. This infusion of cash is the largest education spending increase in state history, boosting per pupil funding by 20...
Liberal Groups File Election Initiative to Increase Voter Fraud and Taxpayer Subsidies for Political Campaigns
For years liberal groups have aimed to unravel basic election integrity practices in the state of Arizona. From repealing ballot harvesting to pushing for same day voter registration – the goal is a California-style free for all where anything goes. Even...
$700 Million and Growing: Arizona Enjoying Another Huge Budget Surplus
The Joint Budget Legislative Committee released their October Fiscal Update, and it was more good news for the state budget coffers. September tax receipts were $120 Million above the adopted budget forecast, an 8.7% increase over the prior year. The explosion in tax...
Donor Harassment Initiative Looking to Qualify for 2020 Ballot
After failing last year to qualify a measure forcing disclosure of contributions to non-profit organizations and eliminating donor privacy, Terry Goddard is back peddling a revised iteration of “Outlaw Dirty Money.” This time dubbed “The Voters Right to Know...
Phoenix City Council Considers Forcing Ridesharers to Subsidize Sky Harbor Train
The City of Phoenix is addicted to wasting millions of dollars on antiquated train systems. So much so that they are constantly looking for more people to subsidize the ever-growing and inevitable rising costs. Their new target? Phoenix Sky Harbor patrons...
California Labor Groups File AZ Ballot Initiative to Unionize Hospital Workers
After the Arizona Free Enterprise Club successfully advocated for initiative reform to crack down on circulator fraud and abuse, groups have been manically organizing to file their ballot initiatives before the new law took effect August 27th 2019. Just eking in on...
Ballot Measure Looking to Bring Back Ballot Harvesting to Arizona
Frustrated by efforts to reduce election fraud and initiative abuse, a coalition led by a petition gathering firm and several Democrat operatives have decided to run an initiative. Dubbed the “Democracy and Accountability Act,” their proposed ballot measure would roll...
Proposal to Increase Property and Sales Taxes Would Derail Arizona’s Economic Boom
Arizona’s economy has been on fire. In just the last year the Grand Canyon state has created 75,000 jobs and Maricopa county leads the nation in population growth. The state is more productive than ever too. Arizona now ranks third fastest growing GDP in...