PHOENIX (AP) - The Latest on a Republican-led effort to increase Arizona sales taxes to boost education spending (all times local):
11:55 a.m.
The head of the Arizona Republican Party is working to jump-start a stalled legislative proposal that would ask voters to raise the state sales tax to provide additional funding for schools.
State GOP Chair Kelli Ward led a news conference Wednesday with several Republican state lawmakers to boost support for plan in the Legislature. The proposal to boost the current school sales tax from 6/10 of a cent to a penny per dollar would go on the 2020 ballot.
If voters approve, school sales tax revenue would increase from about $700 million a year to more than $1.1 billion. School advocates put an income tax increase on high-earners on last year’s ballot but it was blocked by the state Supreme Court.
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12:01 a.m.
The Arizona Republican Party’s leader wants lawmakers to back a proposal raising the state sales tax to provide additional funding for schools.
State GOP Chair Kelli Ward plans a news conference Wednesday with several Republican lawmakers to boost support for the stalled plan in the Legislature. The proposal to boost the current school sales tax from 6/10 of a cent to a penny per dollar would go on the 2020 ballot.
If voters approve, school sales tax revenue would increase from about $670 million a year to more than $1.1 billion. The state’s K-12 schools would get 75% of the money, universities 20% and community colleges 5%.
School advocates put an income tax increase on high-earners on last year’s ballot but it was blocked by the state Supreme Court.
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