By Maria Polletta | Arizona Republic
Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday abruptly ousted the state Department of Revenue director for taking a “policy position” on a new voter-approved tax hike that conflicted with the governor’s stance on the education funding initiative.
But Carlton Woodruff says neither he nor the department he led until this week ever weighed in on the merits of the measure, including in the court filing that spurred his dismissal.
Instead, he said, the department was simply trying to do its job.
“The agency needed time to prepare to implement any change in law, and that is what we were doing,” he told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday. “But we were taking no stance on the proposition, either for or against.”
Arizonans in November approved Proposition 208, formally known as the Invest in Education Act, despite prominent Republicans such as Ducey and state Treasurer Kimberly Yee campaigning against it.
