GOP lawmaker looks to extend education tax permanently

A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday introduced legislation that would permanently continue the education sales tax that brings in about $600 million a year to Arizona schools.

The tax, which voters passed in 2000 as Proposition 301, is set to expire in mid-2021.

State Rep. Doug Coleman, RApache Junction, told The Arizona Republic that House Bill 2158 would essentially “get rid of the cliff ” surrounding Prop. 301.

Prop. 301 is a 0.6 cent per dollar education-funding sales tax. Its future has

been a point of contention and concern among education and business advocates and state leaders. The money funds things such as teacher salaries and classroom expenses.

The sales tax — and the hundreds of millions of school-funding dollars that come with it — will be gone unless voters approve an extension of the tax in the 2018 or 2020 election or two-thirds of the state’s 90-member Legislature pass legislation to maintain the funding.

Democratic lawmakers last year introduced legislation to extend and expand Prop. 301, but Republican leadership never granted it the required public hearing or votes.

Coleman said his House Bill 2158 would not have additional funding beyond what schools already receive and would not change how the money from the sales is doled out to schools.

“This bill is just keeping what is there, there,” Coleman said. “I just want to make sure that everyone is left whole, and we can do that with this bill.”

“... I just don’t think it’s good policy to be facing what could be a catastrophic cliff for everybody.”

There has been wide support among education and business advocates for extending and even increasing the sales tax under Prop. 301 — viewed by many as a crucial step toward restoring hundreds of millions of dollars of educationfunding cuts following the recession.

State schools Superintendent Diane Douglas and a coalition of business CEOs have recently proposed separate plans to expand the sales tax.

Coleman said Wednesday that he, too, believes the tax should be increased to generate more money for the state’s underfunded public schools.

But Coleman isn’t running for re-election, and said he at least wanted to make sure the existing funding is protected before he leaves the Legislature. He said that would give state leaders some breathing room to then consider increasing the tax.

Tim Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, described a potential extension-only effort by the Legislature as a “moderating step.”

“This would give time for the education community to work with policymakers without the threat of a fiscal cliff,” Ogle said, “because clearly just renewing it is not enough to impact a change in the dynamics.”