Arizona Interfaith Network and their education coalition partners have halted the lowest so-called “flat tax” ever enacted by a state.  By demanding a referendum on Senate Bill 1828, the coalition stopped the destructive reworking of Arizona’s tax code that would have reduced revenue by over $1 billion annually, putting future generations of Arizonans at risk. Instead the tax cut proposal will be referred to the 2022 ballot.

National anti-tax groups see Arizona’s tax legislation as a path to replicate, as evidenced by op-eds by the likes of Grover Norquist touting Arizona as a “national model”. This puts AIN’s fight into a larger context of citizens demanding responsible stewardship and preservation of state budgets that should be put to work for the good of their state, even in the face of well-funded outside interest groups.

The utter lack of political will to invest in future generations has got to stop.

Rev. Jeff Procter Murphy, a leader with Valley Interfaith Project, said at the press conference, “This has got to stop – this utter lack of political will to invest in future generations has got to stop. For too long we have neglected our responsibility to future generations. …

"They’ve decided to radically restructure our tax code to reward the very wealthy on the backs of everyone else.  They did so on the narrowest of margins, and they thought we wouldn’t notice.  This is an affront to the voters of our state.  It’s an insult to our teachers, and it’s a direct attack on the very people that all of us, people of faith, are instructed to protect:  children, the vulnerable, those who live on the margins and who have suffered the most in this pandemic.”

[In photo, Rev. Jeff Procter Murphy; photo credit InvestInAZ Campaign video] 

Education Advocates File Signatures to Force Vote on Ducey’s Tax Cuts in 2022, Arizona Mirror [pdf]

School Advocates Turn in Petitions to Overturn Arizona's $1 Billion Tax Cut, The Arizona Republic [pdf]

Petitions Turned in, Apparently Will Force Public Vote on Arizona Tax Cut, Arizona Daily Star [pdf]

Foes of Massive Arizona Tax Cuts File to Block Them, Associated Press [pdf]

Tax Cut Likely to Go to Voters, Arizona Capitol Times [pdf]

Through an intense mobilization campaign that engaged voters across the state, Valley Interfaith Project, with Pima County Interfaith, Northern Arizona Interfaith Council and a coalition of education allies, leveraged passage of Prop 208 which will restore millions of dollars to K-12 education funding.

[Excerpts from Jewish News below]

“Quality education is at the core of who the Jewish people are and how we have survived for thousands of years,” said Rabbi John Linder of Temple Solel, a member of the Arizona Interfaith Network Clergy Caucus. “And we look at quality education as reflecting the common good of the community.”

AIN was among five organizations that worked for the last four years to pass the Invest in Ed initiative. Other coalition organizations include the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, the Arizona Education Association, Children’s Action Alliance and Stand for Children.