Judge: Invest in Ed tax measure stays on ballot

Educators are one step closer to getting additional funding for Arizona schools, thanks to a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling.

Opponents of the Invest In Education income tax hike proposal had filed a lawsuit challenging the Invest in Education income-tax proposal and the petition process used to get it on the November ballot.

Thursday, a judge ruled against Arizonans for Great Schools and a Strong Economy’s petition, allowing the measure to remain on the ballot.

The measure would raise incometax rates by 3.46 percentage points on individuals who earn more than $250,000 or households that earn more than $500,000, and by 4.46 percentage points on individuals who earn more than $500,000 or households that earn more than $1 million.

The Invest In Ed Committee collected 270,000 signatures for its proposal, which was announced during the statewide #RedForEd teacher walkout. It needed 150,642 valid signatures from Arizona voters to qualify.

The Secretary of State’s Office deemed 24,888 signatures invalid.

The judge ruled that if a ciculator did not include their complete address, their petition pages would remain invalid. The state office said complete address were important to make sure out-of-state circulators were properly registered.

The state office claimed 2,097 petition pages were invalid because the circulators were not registered. The Invest In Education Committee claimed this impacted 21,162 signatures on the petition pages.

Paid circulators must be registered with the state office. However, the judge ruled the secretary of state could not consider these petitions invalid because of the lack of paid circulator registration.

Arizonans for Great Schools and a Strong Economy made multiple claims against the proposal.

The lawsuit alleged the petitions were misleading because they refer to the proposed tax rate increase as a “percent” increase and not the more accurate “percentage point” increase. According to the complaint, the tax rate would see a 76 and 98 percent increase and not a 3.46 and 4.46 percent increase.

It alleged the petition did not disclose that the initiative would repeal a separate state tax law and “over time raise income taxes on all Arizona taxpayers in every income bracket,” according to the complaint.

Jamie Molera, the opposing group’s chairman, called the income-tax proposal misleading and sloppy. Molera’s group is backed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Our elected state legislators wisely passed into law a bill that would ensure the judiciary applies a strict compliance standard to initiatives, the same standard that applies to referenda,” he said in a statement. “Adopting an initiative via the ballot box is lawmaking; it should be treated as such.”

The Invest in Education Committee said it is pleased with the decision.

“This summer, 270,000 Arizona voters put InvestInEd on the ballot,” said co-chairman and Mesa teacher Joshua Buckley in a statement. “They let politicians know that the people are ready to take back power and do what the politicians should have done: invest in our children’s schools.”

Molera said Arizonans for Great Schools and a Strong Economy is disappointed and plans to appeal.