Out-of-state special interests drove Prop. 208? Get real
As one of almost 1.7 million Arizonans who voted for additional state revenues to support education, I’m pretty stunned that a gubernatorial candidate, Karrin Taylor Robson, has suggested that Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed largest tax cut in state history is going to “turn the tables” on Arizona voters like me.
I’m pretty sure if you want Arizona voters to elect you, you shouldn’t be gleefully flaunting a plan that undermines exactly what they voted for.
I am, according to Robson, one of the “special interests behind Proposition 208,” a “liberal activist” from a “Portland based advocacy group.”
So, let’s be clear. I’ve lived in Arizona for over 20 years and raised two native Arizonans who attended Arizona public district and charter schools.
I’m also a registered Republican who have worked for a Republican Arizona governor, the Arizona Charter Schools Association and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at ASU. I serve now, as I have for the past seven-plus years, as executive director at Stand for Children Arizona.
This is not a “liberal activist” or “out of state” resume. Far from it.
Robson should be well aware of Stand for Children’s history in Arizona. We have been a leader in grassroots parent engagement, community building and advocacy for a very long time. We directly serve almost 2,000 parents in seven Arizona school districts in addition to addressing statewide education policy issues.
I can tell you firsthand that parents were inspired by the events in 2018 that led to the idea of Invest in Education, which became Proposition 208. Those events were the massive walkout and march by 50,000 Arizona teachers. Fifty thousand “special interests” who were fed up from being told by the governor in his 2018 State of the State address “we’ll never check the box on public education. We can always do more for our kids and teachers,” and that more education funding was coming, from government reform and a growing economy.
Instead they were given crumbs, not substance. Substance which was sorely needed to address the teacher shortage, the counselor shortage and to support student success through career and technical education.
And here’s the irony: The playbook that Gov. Ducey’s economic plan comes from? It’s from the granddaddy of special interest groups, the Koch brothers.
As the governor heads into his presidential bid, this economic plan has turned into a campaign plan — run the Koch playbook and get a ticket to the big leagues.
And then there’s Grover Norquist, the out-of-state pundit who repeatedly advocates for this Arizona tax scheme. Between him and the myriad of articles in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times, there’s definitely a host of out-of-state interests pulling for the Arizona “flat tax” despite its failure in Kansas.
Apparently, Robson has no problem with those “special interests.”
As a lifelong Republican with anything but a liberal activist pedigree, I can honestly say that it would have been one thing to say that tax cuts grow the economy so we can invest in education, and then actually invest in education.
But that’s not what happened.
Tax cuts turned into more tax cuts, and not for the middle class, but for the wealthiest of the wealthy. Far from the average tax cut Robson claims, the actual data by income level shows quite clearly that middle class families get next to nothing,
Under this proposal, if you are earning the Arizona median household income of $58,945 your tax cut will be $15. As in fifteen. But if it’s over $512,000 (which is the top 1% of households in the state) your tax benefit is almost $21,000.
How can that be? Because they are literally trying to pull the rug out from under Proposition 208 and the wool over the eyes of Arizona voters. The saddest part is that the real losers are Arizona’s students, who need a thriving education system to create a thriving workforce.
As Robson runs for governor in November 2022, those 1.7 million Arizona voters who passed Proposition 208 will be ready to vote again.