Budget & Taxes Fact Sheets
Arizona Tax Ranking (July 20, 2010) With the exception of the general sales tax, Arizona ranks well below the national average for all types of state and local taxes. This has not always been the case - in 1990 Arizona ranked 9th highest. Twenty years of tax cuts have moved the state from the top 10 to well below average.
HB2250 Corporate Welfare Paid For By Arizona's Families (April 9, 2010) H.B. 2250 enacts multiple tax breaks for corporations beginning in FY 12 when Arizona will still be facing multibillion dollar deficits and cuts to education and health care. This will enlarge our structural deficit.
What Happens If 1¢ Sales Tax Does Not Pass? (March 30, 2010) Legislation passed during the 2010 7th special session included conditional budget cuts that will occur if the May 18, 2010 1¢ sales tax increase does not pass. For some agencies, specific cuts are identified in legislation; in other cases, a single lump sum reduction is specified.
SB 1104: TABOR is Still a Bad Idea for Arizona (March 22, 2010) SB 1104 contains an arbitrary, mathematical formula that says state spending can’t rise faster than state population and inflation. This ignores the fact that state government costs – like the number of prisoners and medical costs – often grow faster than overall population and inflation. This bill is modeled on a failed experiment in Colorado, known as TABOR.
Final FY 10/11 Arizona Budget Changes: How Vulnerable Children And Families Fare (March 17, 2010) The state legislature wrapped up its 7th special session with votes on the state budget for this fiscal year and the year beginning July 1. On votes that were almost completely along party lines, the Republican majority adopted budgets that include $1 billion in additional cuts to services such as health care, education, and services for children, parents, and grandparents
Turn Down This Budget Proposal! (March 9, 2010) As the Arizona Legislature begins a special session this week on the budget, Children’s Action Alliance prepared an analysis of the proposal to highlight specific portions of the budget proposals that would impact children and families.
CAA continues to call for Arizona lawmakers to use a balanced approach to solving the current fiscal crisis – an approach that allows Arizona jobs and families a chance to recover. Deep cuts will only devastate the assets that matter most to children, families, and Arizona’s future.
SB1372 - Expanding The Sales Tax Base (February 19, 2010) Read the fact sheet on this bill meant to bring in more revenue by taxing services.
HB 2250 – Tax Cuts To Grow Arizona's Deficit (January 25, 2010) HB 2250 enacts a broad range of tax cuts and tax incentives beginning in FY 12 when Arizona will still be facing multibillion dollar deficits and cuts to education and health care. These across the board tax cuts are not targeted to economic development and will add to the state’s fiscal problems. Details of the bill can be found here.
CAA Response To Brewer Budget Plan (Jan 20, 2010) Last Friday, Governor Brewer released her proposals to balance the current year’s budget and the budget beginning July 1. These budget proposals put us all face-to-face with the brutal reality of the depth of our deficit and the choices and tradeoffs we face.
The Governor’s budget includes a mix of strategies. Click here to see a summary pie chart. She proposes: a penny increase in the state sales tax, borrowing money from the First Things First tobacco tax funds, mortgaging additional state buildings, and shifting more money from special funds to the general budget. Even with these strategies, the budget still includes a 5% salary reduction for every state employee. The proposal also includes more than $1 billion in budget CUTS – on top of the cuts that have been happening since March of 2009.
The impact of these cuts on children, families, and Arizona jobs is truly stunning. This budget relies on voters to un-do their priorities for health coverage and to give up more spending decisions to the legislature. It calls on the legislature to eliminate a number of state programs and pass a sales tax increase with a 2/3 majority vote.
Click here for a list of major budget cuts proposed to children and families.
Legislative Report Card for Kids (December 22, 2009) CAA today released its 2009 Legislative Report Card for Kids. Each year, the 90 members of our state legislature vote on dozens of pieces of legislation that shape the health, education, and safety of Arizona children and families. Children’s Action Alliance believes that every lawmaker has the responsibility to vote for kids. And our legislators should be held accountable and measured on their performance.
Health, Human Services and Education have Taken the Brunt of Arizona Budget Cuts (December 1, 2009) State agencies have sustained $1.1 billion in budget cuts since February 2009, with more than 70% of those cuts occurring in health, human services and education. Twenty-six percent of the cuts came from K-12 education, followed by DES (19%) and higher education (18%). AHCCCS’ and Health Services’ portions were each 5%. Corrections and the balance of state government made up the remaining 27%.
Arizona Budget Coalition Offers State Revenue Alternatives (November 18, 2009) The Arizona Budget Coalition stands united in our call to executive and legislative leaders for a comprehensive approach to balance our state budget.We urge our elected leaders to aggressively pursue a combination of revenue options that will provide:1) “Bridge Funding” in the short term (FY 2010 and FY 2011) to help Arizona get through the economic downturn while protecting education, health and human services, and 2) Permanent Revenue increases for the long term to restore the state’s fiscal balance between ongoing revenues and expenditures.
TABOR is Still a Bad Idea for Arizona: Ties Legislators' Hands in Budget Decisions (June 29, 2009) TABOR (“Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights”) says that legislative appropriations of state revenue cannot grow faster than statewide inflation and population growth. TABOR was a failed experiment in Colorado and is a bad idea for Arizona. This fact sheet explains why.
CAA Urges the Legislature to Defeat Current Budget Plan (June 29, 2009) Children’s Action Alliance urges the Arizona legislature to defeat the current budget package and develop a more responsible plan. The combination of provisions in the budget package as a whole means that any protection for kids and education will be short lived as state revenues plummet in just a few short years.
Flat Tax Proposal Will Undermine Arizona's Recovery When It's Most Needed (June 29, 2009) Adopting a flat tax for Arizona with the provisions in HB 2653/SB 1478 for an income tax cut would damage the state’s tax base when the state is already struggling to support basic voter expectations for education, health care, and public safety.
KidsCare Is an Arizona Success Story: Adams-Burns Budget Cuts Put It in Danger (June 12, 2009) KidsCare - affordable health insurance for Arizona children - is on the chopping block in the Adams/Burns FY10 budget that was adopted by the legislature (but not yet transmitted to the Governor). These deep cuts would reverse Arizona's success in getting more children covered, thus giving them a brighter and healthier future.
Budget Bullet Points (June 12, 2009) With all of the complicated and detailed discussion about the state budget, CAA prepared a one-pager that highlights the key budget issues regarding children and families.
FY10 Arizona Budget Proposals: How Vulnerable Children and Families Fare (June 12, 2009 UPDATE) There are three budget proposals circulating at the legislature: The revised House and Senate Leadership Plan, the Joint Democratic Plan and Governor Brewer’s Plan. CAA provides a side-by-side chart on how the proposals compare on issues that affect vulnerable children and families.
Who's For Kids & Who's Just Kidding (June 10, 2009) Children's Action Alliance today released A Guide to Legislation Affecting Children, so lawmakers and constituents can know what non-budget bills are top priority for Arizona children. Now that bills are moving through both the House and the Senate, there is very little time for discussion or problem-solving so legislators should use this legislative guide as a reference to know whether their vote will determine Who's for Kids and Who's Just Kidding.
Corporate Income Tax (2009) S.B. 1324 would reduce the income tax rate for corporations by 35% over a four-year period. The current rate of 6.968% of net income would become 4.540% beginning January 1, 2014. If enacted, Arizona would have the lowest corporate income tax rate except for those states that have none. Once fully enacted, it would cost the state General Fund $250 million a year in revenues.
Program Growth Outpaces Population Growth (2009) Arizona's budget is affected by changes in specific populations, such as school-aged children and prisoners, not by changes in the general population.
FY10 Arizona Budget Proposals: How Vulnerable Children and Families Fare (2009) As of June 2nd, There are three budget proposals circulating at the legislature: The revised House and Senate Leadership Plan, the Joint Democratic Plan and Governor Brewer’s Plan. CAA provides a side-by-side chart on how the proposals compare on issues that affect vulnerable children and families.
Unemployed Arizonans Eligible for Millions of Federal Dollars (2009) Unemployment insurance (UI) is not just for adults - it's also for the children of the 115,800 workers who lost their jobs between August 2008 and January 2009. The weekly UI benefit - capped at $240 - allows families to pay for very basic necessities such as rent and food. With legislative changes, more Arizonans could qualify for unemployment insurance for a longer period of time and the state could receive millions in federal funds.
Arizona Does Have Budget Choices 2009 cover sheet and chart (2009) Arizona’s governor and legislature will face state revenues that lag far behind current expenditures. Some legislators and interest groups claim that spending cuts are the only way to balance the budget. This is not true. Arizona does have budget choices. These choices include collecting more of the taxes that are already owed, eliminating tax deductions and tax credits that no longer serve their intended purpose, or suspending new tax cuts that are scheduled to be phased in. Arizona Comes in Low on State and Local Taxes Whether our state is experiencing a budget surplus or deficit, the question of high or low Arizona’s taxes are compared to other states comes up. The answer is: Arizona’s tax rate per $100 of personal income is low.
TABOR Fact Sheet (2006) What you should know about the dangers of the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights."
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