How does cutting corporate taxes balance Arizona budget?

What am I missing? As a small businessman, if I don’t have enough money coming in to cover my expenses, I have to either raise my prices and/or cut my overhead. The one thing I’d never do as a cash-strapped businessman is to lower my prices unless I cut my quality and service. To voluntarily cut my cash flow would be financial ruin.

 

Last year the Arizona Republicans did just that. They gave away a $1 billion when we needed it to fill a shortfall. That’s right, one billion dollars in corporate tax breaks!

 

But how were they able to do it? They were able to give the money away by taking $1 billion from our public safety, healthcare and educational services systems. They claimed it was an investment in our future.

 

Arizonans were furious when they heard of the budget cuts to our schools, firefighters and police. Republican leadership responded by asking us to approve a “temporary” one cent increase in sales taxes. They said it was up to us voters, not them. If we wanted to keep the schools open and police and firefighters on the streets, we’d have to vote for a tax increase, not them. You see, they could claim they were voting to “lower” your taxes and we were voting to raise them. That’s great for their future campaign ads!

The 2012 state budget is in the Republicans’ hands. Once again, they say that by giving away another $500 million in corporate tax cuts, we will solve our budget shortfall. They claim it’s an investment in our future. It’ll make us more attractive for strong and successful companies to expand or locate here.

With this type of leadership, Republicans have made Arizona 49th in the nation for funding of education, 5st in funding for mental health care (behind Puerto Rico), and attracted the world’s attention thanks to the likes of the “Brewer Care” that denies life-saving operations to Arizona citizens. How attractive!

 

Republicans successfully scared voters into coughing up the extra penny of sales tax because they knew Arizonans realized how important a strong and wellfunded public education is to a state’s economy. All one needs to do is look at the states that have successful, well-funded educational systems.

 

They’re the states that have the highest number of Fortune 500 companies such as New York, Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois. Those states all have higher corporate taxes than Arizona, yet the most powerful corporations choose to do business there. Why? Ask any of the Fortune 500 companies and they will tell you that the educational system is one of the most vital criteria for choosing a location for expansion.

If you want to attract a chicken rancher to help supplement your state’s budget, you’ll need people willing to work there for those wages and in those conditions. If you want to attract a high-tech manufacturing facility, you’ll need the human resources to staff it.

 

Which way are Republicans taking us by proposing an additional 37-percent cut for education? Wouldn’t it be a bit more farsighted to let the tax revenue come in, as budgeted by our corporate partners, rather than cut the state cash flow which will only further diminish our already weakened educational system?