Brewer Willing to Keep Education Tax in Exchange for Temporary Sales Tax Increase

The Arizona Guardian has the story and the video (below).

The tradeoff is aimed at getting Democratic votes for her "five point" budget package. Governor Brewer stated she is willing to retain the County Education Equalization Tax if enough Democrats will support sending a temporary 1% sales tax proposal to the voters. Republicans have target the Education tax for elimination. At about $80 per $100,000 of home value, it would provide an estimated $250,000,000 in revenue for the cash-strapped state.

Early reactions to the governor's proposal are not good.

The governor’s willingness to keep the county equalization rate in place didn’t sit well with Republican and Democratic legislative leaders.

“Absolutely,” Brewer said of keeping the property tax if it meant Democratic support. “We need to discuss how we’re going to fix the problem and if that’s one of the options.”

If Brewer were to cut a deal with Democrats on the equalization rate, Republican lawmakers warned of a backlash that could ruin her political future.

“What?” said Rep. John Kavanaugh. “Is she planning on running in the Democratic primary next year?”

He went on to say that Brewer’s push for a tax increase has hurt her political reputation, but if she sticks with Republicans “she can still be redeemed.”

On the other side of the political aisle, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, the assistant minority leader, wasn’t very enthusiastic about cutting a deal that sends a tax increase to the voters.

“That’s no exchange,” Sinema said.