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Stop TABOR and House Rule 38!
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(January 27, 2012) TABOR is a bad idea that locks state lawmakers into a flawed mathematical formula for future budget decisions. TABOR has been proposed and rejected in Arizona for a decade because it is a proven failure that endangers state priorities for education, prisons, economic development, and health care.
Some House Republicans plan to propose a TABOR rule in the House of Representatives on Monday. The rule would prevent the House from adopting a budget outside of the TABOR formula. To our knowledge, passing such a major policy measure through a House rule is unprecedented. This is a backdoor attempt to pass something that can't stand up to the regular democratic process. A rule cuts out public hearings and public testimony and cuts out the State Senate and the Governor.
House Rule 38 Would Enact TABOR's Faulty Formulas fact sheet
Please click here to email your state representatives and ask them to reject the proposed Rule 38 – Expenditure Limit for the sake of Arizona's future.
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Who Has the Most Skin in the Game?
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(January 26, 2012) Arizonans with modest earnings contribute a much larger share of their income to support schools, roads and other public assets than do better-off households, according to a new CAA report. The report, called Skin in the Game, shows that even those who earn too little to owe income taxes pay proportionately more in other taxes than upper-income Arizonans. At the same time, Arizona’s tax code provides numerous ways for profitable corporations and wealthy individuals to pay less in state and local taxes.
"We hear it repeated time and time again in Washington, D.C. and here in Arizona that families with low incomes don't pay their fair share of taxes and should have more 'skin in the game,'" said Dana Wolfe Naimark, President and CEO of Children's Action Alliance. "The facts show just the opposite. Arizonans with the very highest incomes actually have the very least skin in the game."
The new report illustrates how both upper-income households and profitable corporations can use a variety of tax credits to completely wipe out their state income tax bill. Key findings include: • Arizona households earning less than $20,000 spend $12.50 out of every $100 of their income on state and local taxes; the wealthiest Arizonans spend less than half that. Those earning $437,000 or more spend only $5.60 out of every $100 of their income on taxes. • Nearly three out of four of corporations paid just $50 in income tax, the legal minimum. Fewer than one in ten corporations paid $5,000 or more. • When fully phased in, cuts to corporate income and property taxes, combined with the many corporate tax credits passed during the last six years, will cost the state $778 million each year. That would be enough to fund all-day Kindergarten statewide, help families afford child care, provide health insurance to children in working families, build and repair schools, and buy new equipment for K-12 classrooms and campuses. Read the Full Report Here.
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What's in the Governor's Budget?
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(January 19, 2012) Governor Brewer's budget proposal continues most of the past cuts to children's health, education, and security. KidsCare and child care remain frozen. There is no state funding for full-day Kindergarten or preschool and no inflation funding for K-12 schools. Grandparents raising grandkids continue to go without help and the poorest mothers and children continue to be left behind.
Her budget uses current year funds to pay off some debt early, to upgrade some technology, and to build new prison beds. She also proposes investments in specific areas of behavioral health, early reading, and child protective services. Her proposal offers no plan for balancing the budget in future years -- no proposal to meet state priorities as the temporary sales tax expires and new tax cuts kick in. Ongoing revenues remain below ongoing expenditures -- even with the budget cuts in place.
Click here for our summary of the Governor's budget recommendation.
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Lifting KidsCare Freeze is a Smart Investment
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(January 19, 2012) The newest CAA fact sheet shows that KidsCare not only provides health insurance coverage for some of Arizona's most vulnerable children, it also adds jobs and keeps families out of medical debt and bankruptcy.
Ending the enrollment freeze that KidsCare has had for the last two years is an affordable investment for Arizona right now. With the money the state already invests in KidsCare and funding pledged by three hospitals, just $6 million in additional state funds would allow KidsCare to cover nearly 50,000 kids per year, as it did before the enrollment freeze.
This is less than the new money Governor Brewer has proposed in her budget for the Arizona Office of Tourism. KidsCare immediately brings to Arizona more than three federal dollars in matching funds for every state dollar invested.
Since the freeze, KidsCare enrollment has fallen more than 70%, to just over 12,000, while the rate of uninsured children in Arizona has begun inching up, after years of steady progress.
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Opening Schoolyards for the Community
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(January 11, 2012) Childhood obesity has tripled in the US since in the last 30 years, with Arizona seeing the biggest increase in childhood obesity of any state in recent years. Physical activity is key to children being healthy, yet many Arizona children do not have playgrounds in their neighborhoods. However, nearly all neighborhoods have schools with playgrounds, which are all too often locked up during non-school hours.
SB1059 is a bill supported by CAA and the American Heart Association to address this, and it is being heard in the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, January 17, at 8 a.m. This bill clarifies the current state law about liability for recreation, which mentions parks, forests, and agricultural land, but is silent about schools. The bill would make clear that schools may be opened up to the public outside of instructional hours under the same liability laws as local parks. A fact sheet on SB1059 can be found here.
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