“Republican voters have recognized that education is key in economic recovery in Arizona,” she said.
The initiative needs to gather nearly 240,000 valid signatures by July 2 to make it on the November ballot. In 2018, nearly double the signatures needed were collected for an earlier version of the initiative. The Arizona Supreme Court kicked it out, saying the measure didn’t actively describe how all taxpayers would be affected.
This measure would generate additional funding for public education by imposing an income tax surcharge of 3.5% on taxable income above $250,000 annually for single filers and above $500,000 annually for joint filers.
“If we want to attract the best employers, we have to have the best education,” Pearson said. “Or at least one that is not 50th.”
Teachers union gives Democrats A’s, B’s on education votes; Republicans get f’s
The Arizona Education Association released its 2020 Legislative Report Card with unsurprising results.
Throughout the state, as well as in Tucson, Democratic legislators largely voted in line with the agenda of the largest professional organization for public school employees in Arizona. Republican lawmakers did not.
The teachers association gave Pima County’s Democratic lawmakers — five senators and 10 representatives — A’s or B’s based on their votes on key education bills. And the county’s two Republican senators and four representatives, serving large parts of Marana and Oro Valley as well as the far east region of the county, all earned F’s.
