By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward, a conservative firebrand who for years has championed the party’s grassroots base, is throwing the weight of the Arizona Republican Party behind a push from some GOP legislators to refer a sales tax increase to the 2020 ballot to generate more money for K-12 education.
The move has left many political observers and Republican officials stunned.
At a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, Ward stood with GOP lawmakers, education officials and members of the business community to tout efforts by Sen. Sylvia Allen and Rep. Michelle Udall to increase an existing 0.6-cent sales tax to a full penny, with the additional tax revenue going to K-12 schools, universities and community colleges.
Allen and Udall want their colleagues to refer the sales tax proposals to the ballot in November 2020.
According to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the proposal would generate about $472 million in additional funding, 75 percent of which would go to K-12 schools. The rest would go to in-state university tuition and community college funding.
