By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that it will allow a measure to permanently extend the 1-cent-per dollar sales tax on the November ballot.
The measure seeks to make permanent the temporary 1-cent-per-dollar sales tax that expires at the end of May. The money would flow to K-12 schools, community colleges, universities and school infrastructure projects, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting a children’s health program.
The Quality Education and Jobs campaign gathered more than 290,000 voter signatures in support of the measure. But Secretary of State Ken Bennett rejected them within a day of their filing, saying the paper copy filed with his office did not match exactly the one circulated to voters.
A three-judge panel of the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the group did substantially comply with requirements and allowed the measure to move forward.