(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Ann Siner of My Sister’s Closet and Judge John Buttrick in their litigation efforts against 208.)
By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
A new income tax surcharge on the wealthy to add more dollars to public education can take effect.
In a 21-page ruling Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah Jr. rejected a series of arguments by business interests and some Republican lawmakers that Proposition 208 was so flawed that he needed to immediately quash it. Hannah said that’s not the case.
The judge said there appears to be little merit to the claim that only elected lawmakers are authorized to raise taxes. If nothing else, he pointed out that the Arizona Constitution makes the people co-equal with the legislature.
Similarly, he said when voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote for new or increased taxes, they worded it so as to apply only to the legislature and not to their own initiatives. And Hannah found little merit to the claim that the 3.5% surcharge on earnings above $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly is not a sufficient revenue source for the money that will go to public schools and other education issues.
“There are two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Prop 208. The Court rejected the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunctive Relief filed for the lawsuit in which state legislators are the plaintiffs. In the motion, the legislators requested a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing Prop 208 including collecting the new taxes. The plaintiffs argued that Prop 208 imposes a tax in violation of the legislature’s super-majority requirement to raise taxes, the spending provisions violate the school expenditure limits established in the Constitution, and it does not establish an “increased source of revenues” sufficient to cover mandated costs. The Court ruled that while some of the issues could be litigated in a full trial, it did not see a need to imposed an injunction on the law passed by voters.’
“Rose Law Group represents Ann Siner, the founder of My Sister’s Closet clothing stores and retired judge John Buttrick. The arguments raised in the RLG lawsuit are mostly different than the other lawsuit, even though the courts consolidated both cases. The injunction ruling might be appealed but it appears these issues will have to be hashed out in a full trial.”
Thomas Galvin, Rose Law Group Regulatory Attorney
