Customs and Border Protection on December 4 announced the closure of an international bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas spanning the Rio Grande and a land port of entry at Lukeville, Arizona. Days later CBP closed a pedestrian crossing in San Ysidro, the border community south of San Diego. Just recently, CBP suspended rail crossing operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas. CBP has closed other bridges at times throughout 2023, each closure more disruptive than the next.

These closures are in part a consequence of the inability or unwillingness of successive Congresses and administrations to reach a durable agreement on immigration and border security.

But the blame for today’s debacle rests in the epic mismanagement by the current administration of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It’s not just Republican governors and members of Congress voicing criticism. It’s a growing list of prominent Democrats.  

The closures are unacceptable. They damage cross-border trade. They cause shipping delays and cost increases, which get passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices on store shelves. They make travel more difficult for folks who want to visit friends and family or simply run errands, and they cut off small businesses from their customers.

It’s clear that many on Capitol Hill and the current White House don’t understand cross-border trade and travel’s importance to every border community. Eagle Pass and Lukeville rely on trade and travel just as much as behemoths like Detroit or Laredo, Texas or San Ysidro, Calif. For the people who live and work in the affected areas, the ports are essential to their livelihoods.

When it comes to beer imports, no one is bigger than Eagle Pass. A little over two hours south of San Antonio, the city sits across from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and the nearby town of Nava, where Constellation Brands brews beers like Corona and Modelo. The annual value of beer imports at Eagle Pass is more than $3.5 billion. Eagle Pass is also a major import point for kitchen appliances, clothes, and vehicle parts.

Lukeville serves as the main port for travelers to and from Arizona and the beach community of Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point. It’s also isolated. CBP suggests travelers instead go west and use the San Luis port south of Yuma or go east and cross at Nogales. It’s an approximately three-hour drive from San Luis to Puerto Peñasco, nearly five hours via Nogales. It’s no wonder that in what should otherwise be a busy holiday travel season, merchants in Puerto Peñasco their community “like a little ghost town.”

CBP says the closures are necessary to shift personnel to assist with the migrant surges on the Mexican side of the border, which have become a humanitarian calamity. Border Patrol agents and CBP officers have an already difficult job made even more challenging by Washington’s ineptitude, and, as a result, the country’s legal trade and travel corridors are shut down, while illegal migration only grows.

The story of immigration reform in Washington is a long and frustrating one. Over the years, some members of both parties have negotiated in good faith, but many haven’t, preferring instead to demagogue an issue where real action is needed.

Here are some recommendations:

• Bridge and port closures are intolerable. The consequences of a mismanaged border and of unscrupulous smugglers who lie to migrants should not be borne disproportionately by the American people. The processing of legitimate trade and travel should take priority over migrants with dubious amnesty claims.

• The administration needs to get the border under control, and agency staffing levels at the U.S.-Mexico border shouldn’t bear the entire burden. To deal with migrant surges, Border Patrol agents and CBP officers should be shifted from locations other than the Southwest border.

• The president should signal he’s ready to bargain and give congressional Republicans most of what they want. A bill like H.R. 2, the heavy enforcement bill House Republicans passed earlier this year, may not include the type of policy the president would prefer, but he should at least be willing to cut a deal for its political value. One look at his poll numbers and it’s obvious that immigration could sink his campaign.

• There is an emerging solution to be had if members of both parties will take yes for an answer. Senators like Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Tom Tillis, R-N.C., stayed in Washington before the holiday recess to negotiate an immigration deal that could reform our amnesty laws, allow for more expedited removals, and clean up the parole system that releases some migrants from U.S. custody. Party leaders should encourage their rank-and-file members to study the proposal before criticizing it.

These are recommendations for the near term. We and our colleagues in the business community for more than a decade have urged Congress and the White House to reach an agreement that can meet the country’s border security requirements, that reflects the realities of our economy, and that encourages cross-border commerce. But right now, our states’ international borders are in crisis. Washington needs to fix the damage it’s inflicted.

Danny Seiden is the president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Glenn Hamer is the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business.

Photo courtesy . CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

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The following column originally .

There is a concerted effort underway in Washington to undermine and overturn the very policies that have made states like ours economic leaders.

One of our states, Texas, does not have an income tax, while Arizona just a low flat income tax. Our states’ regulatory burdens are light, education innovation is encouraged, and parents have choices where they send their kids to school. We are also right-to-work states, meaning labor union membership is strictly voluntary.

That our states embrace policies like these makes it no coincidence that we regularly show up on lists of the country’s fastest-growing states or states that offer the best business environments.

But some officials on Capitol Hill and within the Biden administration have spent the past several months attempting to put handcuffs on our pro-growth strategy.

When the American Rescue Plan Act passed in March, Treasury officials told states they better not think about cutting taxes. The administration later that states could extend relief to their taxpayers under certain circumstances, which were laid out in a Treasury that makes its point in a brisk 150 pages.

Congress got in on the micromanagement act and added a dose of fealty to anti-school-choice special interests with buried in an appropriations bill that says public charter schools shouldn’t be able to contract with private sector entities like school lunch providers or back-office help if they want to maintain access to federal funds. Some schools might be forced to shut down and their students would be left in the lurch, but maybe that’s the point. Not surprisingly, the bill says nothing about educational quality or student performance.

Congress and the administration come together in bigfooting the states on the Protecting the Right to Organize, or , which would eliminate voluntary union membership and states’ right to work laws. The bill has and Senate Majority Leader (D-N.Y.) says he’ll bring his chamber’s version of the bill to a vote if he can convince a few more Democratic holdouts to come on board.

Not only does the PRO Act crowbar union-backed labor policy into states’ workplace laws, but it eviscerates labor mobility and worker choice.

Want to be an independent contractor? Not so fast, says the PRO Act, which attempts to bring California’s unpopular AB 5 law — which voters there amended last November after app-based gig workers protested — to the rest of the country, making it much harder to be an independent contractor. Fewer independent contractors means more potential union members.

These heavy-handed top-down approaches to lawmaking not only turn federalism on its ear, but they also create a drag on the post-pandemic economic recovery at the very moment we should be incentivizing creative thinking to spark job growth. Instead, Congress and the administration have embraced the tedious sort of policies that have caused millions of Americans to pull up stakes and move to more welcoming economic climates like ours.

Arizona and Texas have proven that if given the opportunity to innovate in our laboratories of democracy that we can help cultivate environments that encourage and accelerate job growth. If you’re looking for examples on how to bounce back after more than a year of pandemic-induced disruptions, look to our states.

Our states are moving quickly. We don’t expect that Washington will take a lesson from us, but it shouldn’t force us to adopt policies that will only slow us down.

Danny Seiden is the president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Glenn Hamer is the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business.

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Governor Doug Ducey’s seventh State of the State address was delivered under the most difficult circumstances the state and nation have faced during his tenure as governor.

The January 6 invasion of the United States Capitol, something that hasn’t happened since 1814 when the U.S. was at war with Britain, shocked all Americans.

The country is in the grips of a pandemic that has spared no state its wrath, including Arizona. More than 10,000 Arizonans have lost their lives to this terrible disease.

The task before the governor was to convey a message that all Arizonans, regardless of political affiliation, age, or zip code could unite around. He delivered. The governor used his speech to present a thoughtful, soberminded policy response to the pandemic that has affected every facet of life in Arizona.

Vaccines

Job 1 is to ensure the vaccines get into the arms of as many Arizonans as quickly as possible. The state is rolling out the vaccine to sites urban and rural, including a massive 24/7 site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Thanks to the healthcare professionals whose work over the past year has been nothing short of heroic, as many as 6,000 Arizonans each day will get a jab in the arm at that location alone (including my mom, who just got her first dose).

Liability protections

The governor and legislative leaders are rightly focused on restoring Arizona’s health. But there are some, unfortunately, who would choose to use this period as a chance to make a quick buck.

The Chamber agrees strongly with Gov. Ducey that this statewide emergency shouldn’t be leveraged by trial lawyers to file frivolous Covid exposure lawsuits. Employers large and small, cities and town, schools and universities, hospitals and healthcare providers, and nonprofits that are responsibly adhering to all applicable public health protocols should be lauded, not punished. We’ll be leading the coalition to ensure a smartly tailored liability protection bill gets to the governor’s desk, just as other states have done with bipartisan support.

Economic recovery

Not only is the governor focused on restoring Arizona’s health, but he also wants to ensure Arizona bounces back strongly from the pandemic-induced economic downturn.

We’re in better shape than much of the country, but there is still work to do. Our important hospitality sector, for example, is still struggling. Small businesses have been particularly hard hit. Not only are they grappling with the fallout of the pandemic, but many of them could be hit with one of the highest small business taxes in the country due to the narrow passage of Proposition 208 in November.

The new tax is facing a legal challenge due to its apparent violation of the revenue expenditure limit in the state constitution, something the nonpartisan Legislative Council identified before petition signatures were gathered. If the tax stands, though, it will only reinforce the need to “think big” on tax reform this year, as the governor said.

Just as the governor and the Legislature have been able to count on the Arizona Chamber to lead the business community in previous efforts to enhance Arizona’s competitiveness, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves on tax reform in 2021.

Education

The pandemic has also dramatically affected Arizona’s school-aged kids. From Kindergarten to higher education, too many students haven’t been inside a classroom since last March.

Some families have been able to adapt with online learning or have pivoted to charter schools, private schools, homeschool pods, or have taken advantage of other options on the state’s school choice menu. For many families, however, the pandemic’s effect on their child’s education has meant nothing but frustration and worry.

The governor wants to help, and so do we.

In 2021, we’re ready to partner with Gov. Ducey and the Legislature to bridge the digital divide exacerbated by the pandemic, as well as ensure there are resources to support kids who’ve fallen behind academically. We look forward to building on our record of a relentless pursuit of increased funding for education as evidenced by our support for initiatives like the 20×2020 teacher pay raise plan, Proposition 123’s infusion of $3.5 billion from the state Land Trust into the K-12 system, the Results Based Funding plan to reward schools producing outstanding results, and more.

As a result of our efforts and the hard work of Gov. Ducey and the state Legislature, Arizona is now spending more on K-12 education on a per-pupil basis from all sources than at any time in the state’s history.

Like Gov. Ducey, what we cannot support, however, is an erosion of school choices. Due to the educational disruptions wrought by the pandemic, many parents are taking advantage of the choices Arizona affords for the very first time. These options have proven a lifesaver for some families. We should increase Arizona’s choices, not roll them back. For example, the governor has identified transportation an area ripe to help increase choice.

Similarly, we will continue to champion accountability for educational dollars. Employers have demonstrated a willingness and desire to back increased funding for education, but they expect results and wise stewardship.

The governor and Legislature begin their work in 2021 amid significant challenges. But thanks to the deployment of lifesaving vaccines and with more in the pipeline, each day is a little bit brighter. No matter what happens this legislative session from a policymaking perspective, let’s heed Gov. Ducey’s counsel to approach this year with a spirit of unity and compassion.

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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At the end of each year, Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry President and CEO Glenn Hamer hands out his Ham(m)er Awards to recognize the people and groups who contributed in a big way to the year that was. This year’s edition looks back on a year that was unlike any other.

Hit by a once-in-a-century pandemic that created an instant economic worldwide collapse, and soon after racial unrest triggered by the tragic murder of George Floyd, it’s fair to say that 2020 has been a tough year. We’ve lost more than one out of every one thousand Americans to the virus, we’re still down more than 10 million jobs and there’s continued social unease. 

But these difficulties brought out the best in many of us and that’s the focus of this year’s Hammers.

The public health heroes

Let’s start with the obvious. No group is more deserving of recognition than the frontline healthcare workers who have worked nonstop despite near-constant personal danger to keep us well and to educate us on what we should do to keep well. Our hospitals, including Banner, Honor Health, Dignity (CommonSpirit Health), Mayo and others have been working overtime on top of overtime. 

I want to especially call out Dr. Cara Christ for leading Arizona’s response. If you want the definition of an impossible and thankless job, it’s leading a state health agency during a pandemic.

A Hammer Award also goes to Dr. Amish Shah, an E.R. doc who is also a state representative. His blog posts early in the pandemic provided crucial information to the general public.

State Rep. Lorenzo Sierra deserves a Hammer for his deeply personal account of his harrowing battle with Covid that he shared in USA Today and with media outlets across the country.

Our universities stepped up massively. Led by Dr. Michael Crow, Arizona State University developed an easy and effective  for Covid that was a welcome alternative for those who don’t like something stuck up their nose. Dr. Bobby Robbins, a distinguished medical doctor, developed several efforts to assist in the pandemic, including a huge  to store vaccines. NAU stepped up under the direction of Dr. Rita Cheng as well, lending needed  in the development of vaccines. 

Testing. Testing. Testing. Kudos and a Hammer to Dave Dexter and Sonora Quest for rapidly developing the leading  for Arizonans. Testing remains critical to controlling the spread and we’re fortunate to have a major testing lab based in Arizona. 

Speaking of testing, A.P. Powell deserves a Hammer for setting up testing sites in underserved communities. A.P. also used his Bridge Forum to promote much needed dialogue between neighborhood leaders and senior law enforcement leadership. 

Our friends at Vitalant deserve a Hammer for their continuous efforts to encourage blood and plasma donations. Vitalant’s work is always essential, but in 2020 it was absolutely critical to help the scientific community learn more about Covid antibodies and convalescent plasma. Plus, they’ve ensured that blood donations can continue safely.

Frontline workers. The men and women who work in our grocery stores, serve our coffee and keep America running deserve our deepest thanks…and more. Many months ago, Peggy Noonan wrote that those who are undocumented who are keeping the gears of the American economy turning should be put on a track to citizenship. I agree. 

Over the air

Arizona’s media outlets have been essential partners in getting information out to the public throughout the pandemic.

Day in and day out, KTAR’s Jim Cross has been a go-to source for useful news about the pandemic’s impact on the state and national economies. The consummate workhorse, Jim was deservedly part of the . In addition to joining the Hall of Fame, he deserves a Hammer. I’ll let him decide which is the more flattering honor. 

ABC 15’s Garrett Archer, the Data Guru, boils down the flood of data from the state Department of Health Services into easy-to-follow daily digests. He points out positive and negative trends, avoids alarmist reporting, but also gives this crisis we’re living through the seriousness it deserves. He’s also relied on his years of experience as a congressional aide, campaign hand, and Secretary of State’s Office staffer to help us understand all there is to know about ballot counting. 

It’s also worth noting that AzDHS has done yeoman’s work in providing the public a wealth of information. I’m looking forward to seeing a daily tracker in 2021 on the number of vaccinations given across the state.

Crisis response

The Paycheck Protection Program is the most successful small business program ever developed or administered in the history of the country. The relatively smooth administration happened because multiple parties in Arizona stepped up in a major way. 

A Hammer Award goes to Paul Hickman, the head of the Arizona Bankers Association, for leading the charge. His organization was in regular contact with Capitol Hill and his member institutions were essential in getting the funds flowing to small businesses that desperately needed the help.

A Hammer also goes to David Adame of Chicanos Por La Causa for helping to save thousands of jobs through Prestamos, a Community Development Financial Institution, which issues microloans to struggling small businesses in underserved communities.

More than 80,000 Arizona companies secured over $8.5 billion in largely forgivable loans. A new round is on its way. I want to thank the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the fantastic materials it distributed on PPP and other relief for businesses that have now been downloaded a billion times. 

A Hammer goes to Sandra Watson and her entire team at the Arizona Commerce Authority for putting together comprehensive programming for small businesses on how to navigate the pandemic. I believe that Sandra is the best economic development professional in America. The proof? During a pandemic it was announced that  would come to Arizona. This news would be eclipsed in the evening of the same day when it was announced that  would invest more than $12 billion and bring nearly 2,000 jobs to Arizona, the biggest deal in our state’s history. 

Sandra was charged with leading the Arizona Together fund, the business community’s response to the pandemic. This fund chaired by Eileen Klein has distributed millions of dollars in aid. Many donors deserve credit. Special recognition goes to Catherine Ivy of the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation for her generous $5 million donation and to Michael Bidwill for being the first to contribute seven figures. 

Speaking of the economy, a Hammer goes to Jim Rounds and the crew at Rounds Consulting Group for their outstanding work to help industries of all types not only understand the impact the pandemic has had on the Arizona economy, but also what policymakers can do to help Arizona recover in a position of strength.

A Hammer goes to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for hosting weekly conference calls with the business community during the early stages of the pandemic. These practical calls helped to ensure that Arizona businesses were well represented in Washington when it came to Covid relief. She delivered. 

Kim Sabow and the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association deserve a Hammer Award for rolling out the best safety program on the market. The AZSAFE + CLEAN hotel certification program is the model that can be used for other industries. Kim’s industry was hit first and worst, so credit to her for leading her industry through the most difficult period ever.

Globalization is good. A Hammer goes to Pfizer (U.S.) and BioNTech (Germany) for developing the world’s first widely distributed vaccine. Clocking in at 95% effectiveness using mRNA technology, the vaccine provides hope that other illnesses (cancer) will ultimately benefit. The key is to get as many people as possible vaccinated and as quickly as possible. The U.S. is leading the world in doses administered, with Israel leading on a per capita basis. The Trump administration deserves tremendous credit for developing Operation Warp Speed. Many experts said a speedy, safe vaccine was not possible. They were wrong. To have multiple vaccines at around 95% efficacy hit the market in less than one year is the accomplishment of this century. 

Speaking of private sector contributors stepping up to meet a global need, Honeywelldeserves a Hammer Award for its lightning-fast turnaround of its Arizona production lines to crank out millions of N95 masks. The effort was so impressive that it earned a factory visit from President Trump. Honeywell’s work in 2020 wasn’t a nice-to-have, it was must-have, and it was an inspiring display of American ingenuity and invention. 

The Hammer Award for Model Bipartisanship goes to Gov. Doug Ducey and State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman for joining together to provide smart, healthy and at times politically courageous guidance to keep our K-12 system running. Our teachers and school staff members all deserve big thanks for ensuring our kids have a safe place to go during this most disruptive period.

There’s no I in team

I’m very fortunate to have served under excellent board chairs throughout my tenure at the Chamber, and this year was no exception.

We started out 2020 with Susan Anable at the helm, who was completing her second year with the gavel, which itself was unusual because our chairs usually rotate every year. But Susan didn’t bat an eye when the board asked her to take on a second year. No one knew then that the business community would be entering its most challenging year ever, but Susan took on the challenge with her usual aplomb and helped shift the Chamber into crisis response. I should also recognize her company, Cox, which has proven to be an indispensable partner in helping thousands of Arizona kids learn remotely and folks like me work from home.

In June, we welcomed Dawn Grove as our board chair. Dawn’s a longtime Chamber member and is recognized nationally and globally as a leader in manufacturing policy with a razor-sharp legal mind. An executive with Karsten Manufacturing, the parent company of PING, few have Dawn’s insight into what makes Arizona’s manufacturing environment one of the country’s most competitive. The fact that Arizona now has more manufacturing jobs than construction jobs is in no small part thanks to Dawn’s contributions over the years. As we turn our attention to the great Arizona economic recovery of 2021, the Chamber board couldn’t ask for a better business leader. 

Finally, a Hammer Award to each team member at the Chamber, Chamber Foundation and Arizona Manufacturers Council. Our last regular day in the office was in mid-March. They didn’t miss a beat. The team assembled regular virtual meetings with our colleagues across the business community; presented dozens of webinars for small businesses to access relief funds; shifted each of our regularly scheduled events online; coordinated dozens of video calls for our members with leaders in government, business and academia; launched a  with the Arizona Medical Association to help businesses keep their employees and customers safe and healthy; issued  on big issues; and even cranked out a regular YouTube show on news of the day (that sometimes as many as dozens enjoy!). To top it all off, they kept me and my schedule in one piece as I shifted to mostly working from home.

I would not want to repeat 2020, but I’m thankful for my colleagues at the Chamber who made lemonade out of a year full of lemons.

We’re in the final months of what has been a lethal pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Please be safe and get the vaccine as soon as it’s your turn. 2020 has been tough. There’s potential for 2021 to be the year we vanquish Covid-19 and begin a new and robust expansion. Let’s make it happen.

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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A few final thoughts on Proposition 208 with Election Day just a few days away:

The wrong top 10

If Proposition 208 passes, the state will join a top-10 list on which no state wants to appear.

We’ll end up on the list of states with the highest income tax rates nationwide. Our contemporaries will include the likes of California, New York and New Jersey.

As numerous economists and commentators have pointed out, high-tax states tend to underperform economically, sometimes dramatically so.

A recent by economists Dr. Art Laffer, Stephen Moore and Erwin Antoni compared the economic health of seven states with no income tax against the nine states with the highest income tax rates:

Over the past decade, these seven states have outperformed the nine states with the highest marginal income tax rates, as well as the nation as a whole, in population growth, employment growth, personal income growth and GSP growth. If passed, Arizona would replace Delaware as the ninth highest income tax rate state in America.

In other words, it would join the category of the loser states, not the gaining states.

The proponents of Proposition 208 are attempting to turn a half-century of economic history on its head.

Neighborhood leaders and laggards

The move to the top-10-highest list would make Arizona economically uncompetitive regionally and nationally.

It’s in our own neighborhood where we’d stick out like a sore thumb. Our neighbors Utah, Colorado and New Mexico all have top income tax rates under 5%, but our current 4.5% rate is the lowest. Nevada doesn’t have a state income tax. If Proposition 208 passes we’d rocket up to a top rate of 8%.

Arizona has been in the pole position to attract jobs fleeing California, a state with a top income tax of more than 13%.

As Laffer, Moore and Antoni write, “According to the IRS, since the 1992 tax year (conveniently in the midst of Arizona’s tax cutting spree), Arizona has gained over 201,000 tax returns and almost $12 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) from California alone.”

If we erase our competitive advantage, it will be far too easy for job creators to pass over Arizona for another friendlier locale.

We’ve got the best house on the block right now. Let’s not trash the place with the largest tax increase in Arizona history.

An accelerant, or sand in the gears?

Arizona’s economy is in the pandemic than most states in the country. Arizona’s labor force is , but we’re still down about 125,000 jobs.

All of our energy should be on ensuring our policies are properly calibrated to win back every single one of those jobs. Proposition 208 does exactly the opposite.

I had the chance recently to with the American Enterprise Institute’s Dr. Michael Strain, one of the most thoughtful minds in fiscal policy today, who discussed how states like Arizona should be approaching their economic policy during this pandemic-induced downturn.

“If you are a state government, if you are the federal government, now is the time to be doing everything you can to support existing businesses, to encourage new businesses to start, to support consumer spending,” Dr. Strain said. “State governments should be doing everything they can do to avoid countercyclical policies, to avoid raising taxes and making it harder for businesses at a time when the economy is weak.”

Proposition 208 ignores that prescription by taking the capital that supports private enterprise out of the private sector, which only prolongs our recovery and exacerbates the struggles of so many small businesses.

No reforms, no results

Also joining my conversation with Dr. Strain was Dr. Rick Hess, AEI’s director of education policy studies. He’s an all-star in the K-12 education reform movement. Count him as a skeptic that Proposition 208, which doesn’t call for any improvement in academic outcomes or educational attainment, will result in a better education for Arizona’s K-12 students. The record of states that spend more on education and simply hope for the best isn’t a good one, he says.

“Can more money help? Of course it can,” Dr. Hess said. “Would I be confident that a big increase in state spending was going to make a big difference for kids with no other attention to reform or improvement? I’d be hugely skeptical.”

Dr. Hess also doesn’t buy the argument proffered by the proponents that Proposition 208 will help solve the teacher shortage.

“That suggests that the opportunity here is part of the initiative would be creating new pathways in the teaching profession, where folks work a 12-month year, are paid like 12-month professionals, rather than simply putting a lot of resources into districts and hoping they get spent,” Hess said.

In case you were wondering, no such new thinking on attracting new entrants to the teaching profession is included in Proposition 208.

“If you’re talking about a package of reforms, thinking differently about teacher retirement benefits and health care, you’re talking about staffing differently, you’re talking about holding schools responsible for serving kids well, then I am wide open to the argument that we ought to be increasing investment in schools,” Hess said. “But the idea that we ought to just be throwing a lot of dollars and saying, ‘Boy, we hope these get spent differently than the money that’s gone before,’ I tend to be real unenthusiastic about that approach.”

Like everything else about Proposition 208, there is no new thinking, there are no new reforms, and there is no increased accountability for outcomes.

Taxpayers, teachers and students all deserve more than Proposition 208’s empty promises. It’s terrible policy with even worse timing.

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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Proposition 207, the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, has something for everyone to oppose.

Arizonans who want a qualified workforce for Arizona’s economy: Proposition 207 will severely limit an employer’s ability to act against impaired workers and  will increase.

According to the most recent  on marijuana use, 32% of young adults ages 18 to 25 who live in states where recreational marijuana is legal are regular users of the drug. In states where the drug is not legal, the rate of use for that age group is 21%.

Many of Arizona’s largest employers are required to comply with federal drug testing laws that What will happen to Arizona’s economy when our employers can no longer find a qualified workforce?

Arizonans who want safe roads: Legal marijuana means more stoned drivers.  impairs the ability to drive safely, slows the driver’s reaction times and clouds their judgment.

In Washington state, traffic fatalities involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana  since the state legalized marijuana in December 2012. In Colorado, someone died  in 2018 in a traffic fatality involving a driver who tested positive for marijuana. Five years earlier, it was one every 6½ days.

 legalizing marijuana because of the traffic safety risks. Alarmingly, Proposition 207 weakens Arizona’s DUI laws by eliminating the current bright line standard of marijuana impairment, making it more difficult to protect ourselves from stoned drivers.

Arizonans who want teens to mature into a bright future: Marijuana use negatively impacts learning, memory and coordination in a young brain, causing academic failure and poor sports performance, according to the . A  published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that recreational marijuana legalization was followed by a 25% increase in adolescent (ages 12 to 17) .

States that legalized recreational marijuana have among the  in the nation. Noting the negative social outcomes for adolescents who use marijuana, the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a  in opposition to Proposition 207 for the General Election Publicity Pamphlet. The Arizona Medical Association also strongly  207.

Arizonans who want safe neighborhoods: The measure creates a legal right to use marijuana and its high potency extracts, and to grow up to 12 plants in a two-adult household. Under the cover of similar “home grow” laws,  infiltrated California and  activity rose in Colorado. Your HOA will be powerless to protect your neighborhood. Arizona’s law enforcement community strongly opposes Proposition 207.

Arizonans who support open markets: The medical marijuana industry is almost single-handedly funding the legalization initiative and has raised more than  to convince you to vote for their sweetheart deal. Why? Because Proposition 207 gives existing medical marijuana companies a virtual monopoly on recreational licenses, allowing them to transition medical marijuana businesses to for-profit commercial operations and sell recreational marijuana from the same storefronts. They also will be able to eliminate medical directors, a requirement of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and ignore any medical marijuana regulation deemed “unduly burdensome.”

And all that revenue they promise? It’s a mirage.

In the six Western states with recreational marijuana,  accounts for less than 1% of state revenues. A revealing study in Colorado found that each dollar brought in by marijuana taxes requires spending  to mitigate the exploding black markets, car crashes, and costs related to health care and high school drop-outs.

Proposition 207 caps the marijuana tax at 16%. Arizona’s lawmakers will have to figure out how to battle the negative consequences of recreational marijuana with no hope of taxing those who are making millions.  

Ballot measures enjoy unique status under the . They cannot be changed, fixed, or repealed by legislators. Every single word in the initiative’s  becomes law if it passes. Proposition 207 permanently locks Arizona into this social experiment at the expense of our kids, our roads, and our economy. The industry gets rich while Arizonans suffer the consequences.

There are plenty of reasons to oppose Proposition 207. The Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry urges you to vote no. 

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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We know Proposition 208 will cost Arizona jobs. The question is simply how many.

A  by the Goldwater Institute says under the most conservative scenario job losses will reach a minimum of 124,000 over the course of a decade.

An  by national economists Steve Moore and Dr. Art Laffer is even more pessimistic,finding that an estimated 200,000 jobs would be eliminated over 10 years.

The dean of Arizona’s delegation of economic soothsayers, Elliott Pollack,  the “new tax rate would put the state at a significant competitive disadvantage.”

Even the left-of-center Grand Canyon Institute  the job losses at 10,000.

Left, right, or center, the consensus is that Proposition 208 will lose jobs.

It could be your job.

Proposition 208 raises the state’s top individual income tax rate by nearly double. It doesn’t touch the corporate tax rate.

It’s an important distinction. Small businesses pay their taxes on the individual portion of the tax code. Proposition 208 raises the top rate by 77.7%, which means small businesses will pay a top rate of 8%—much higher than the corporate rate of 4.9%.

That’s not fair, and it’s not smart.

Small businesses’ contribution to the Arizona economy is significant and it’s a sector that will be essential to the state’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Fifty-eight percent of Arizonans employed in the private sector work for an employer who pays their taxes via the individual income tax. They get absolutely walloped by Proposition 208. Their ability to keep and grow jobs is put in doubt. It could be your job that’s at risk.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic that has done tremendous damage to the Arizona and national economies. Arizona has clawed back a little more than half of the more than 290,000 jobs it’s lost during the pandemic, but we’re still down nearly 140,000 overall. Do we really want to risk even more damage to the economy? Proposition 208 makes the economic recovery more difficult.

Proposition 208 is not a mainstream proposal. It was not crafted as part of a dialogue between lawmakers, the education community, and job creators. Proposition 208 is extreme. Bernie Sanders has endorsed it. That’s an endorsement that speaks volumes. No one will mistake Bernie Sanders as an advocate for job creators and small businesses. He certainly doesn’t know Arizona.

In fact, nothing about this proposition is Arizona-grown. This is a science experiment gone bad cooked up by out-of-state activist groups.

The proponents’ coalition is paper thin. A handful of the usual suspects who never met a tax increase they didn’t like.

Meanwhile, the opposition to Proposition 208 is broad and deep. , urban and rural, representing industries small and large, from real estate to agriculture to tourism and everything in between opposes Proposition 208. Small business, the sector of our economy targeted by the initiative, is solidly against the proposition’s passage. The Arizona Small Business Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and local chambers of commerce across the state are some of the measure’s most vocal opponents. Even national powerhouse the U.S. Chamber of Commerce  Proposition 208.

Vote no on Proposition 208. Arizona can do better than to put its economy and thousands of jobs—maybe your job—at risk.

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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Arizona, like the nation as a whole, is experiencing an uneven recovery from the initial economic impacts of the pandemic. What that means is that some sectors of the economy have rebounded sharply, while others remain in freefall.

At this critical moment, pro-growth policies can help businesses recover and help get the unemployed back to work, but bad policy risks further decimating businesses and jobs. Arizona’s Proposition 208 is perhaps the most misguided policy on the ballot—in any state—this November.  

Small businesses are a critical source of jobs and a vital part of our economic ecosystem, serving as both suppliers and customers to larger organizations. In Arizona, small businesses employ  of Arizonans in the private sector. In certain sectors, small businesses have an even larger footprint. For example, small firms employ 82 percent of all Arizonans in the construction industry and 62 percent in real estate. They also employ 56 percent of those in food services and accommodation and over 50 percent in professional and business services.  

Some of those , particularly those that rely on customers gathering in-person, have yet to rebound from the pandemic-induced recession. One in five jobs in the accommodation and food services sector that existed in February, for example, are gone today. Moreover, nearly 30,000 professional and business services jobs have disappeared. For Arizona to recover, these small businesses must recover. 

At the same time, we need the small business employers that are doing well to continue growing. Earlier this year, Arizona was  fifth in the U.S. for small business employment growth. It is easy to see why when you consider that sectors like construction increased their employment by nearly 40 percent over the last five years.  

But Arizona’s pro-business environment, and the ability of these small businesses to recover and continue to grow, would be fundamentally threatened if Proposition 208 is passed.   

Proposition 208 would increase tax rates on small business that pay taxes through the personal income tax by an astonishing 78 percent. Proponents  that this will generate nearly $1 billion a year in new taxes to fund schools. But that money has to come from somewhere, and it is most likely going to mean less business investment and fewer new jobs. One conservative  places the job loss at 124,000. And let’s not forget, fewer Arizonans working means fewer paying normal income and sales taxes,  the state and local governments an estimated nearly $2.5 billion over the next decade. 

Even these stark estimates may not tell the full story. Over the past decade, Arizona’s strong economy and quality of life has  more than 2 million Americans who moved so that they could call Arizona home. Many came from states that punished small business owners with high tax rates. If Proposition 208 passes, Arizona will move from being a low-tax state to having one of the top-ten-highest tax rates in the nation, alongside the likes of California and New York. Passing Proposition 208 would be the equivalent of rolling up the proverbial welcome mat and closing the door on small business owners.

Proponents of Proposition 208 claim that these tax increases are necessary to ensure a quality education for Arizona students. But that is not true either. Since 2015, Arizona has invested an additional  in K-12 education. Teachers’ salaries have increased by an .  

Since 2000, Arizona has made considerable progress in  the number of students who are at or above proficiency in math and reading. There is more work to be done, but it will take smart targeted investments that help improve our school system and our economy.  

Proposition 208 isn’t smart or targeted, it will hurt Arizona’s economy and cost the state jobs when we need new job creation the most. It deserves to be defeated.  

Suzanne P. Clark is the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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A batter in baseball going 0 for 3 at the plate is the equivalent of a rough day at the office. When a political campaign goes 0 for 3, it’s the equivalent of getting sent down to the minors. 

Based on its three TV ads, the pro-Proposition 208 campaign should start packing its bags. 

If passed, Proposition 208 would take the state’s top individual income tax rate from 4.5% to 8%, a 77.7% increase. 

That’s not some obscure aspect of the initiative buried deep in the text; it’s the initiative’s central provision.  

You wouldn’t know that, though, by watching the proponents’ ads. After several weeks of ads with Hollywood-level production values, not once has the pro-208 campaign disclosed to Arizonans that the initiative is asking voters to approve the biggest permanent tax increase in the state’s history.  

The ads also have yet to mention who the tax increase impacts. It’s not just a handful of wealthy tax filers, but rather the small businesses that power the Arizona economy and that will prove indispensable in Arizona’s post-pandemic economic recovery. After all, small businesses pay their taxes on the individual portion of the tax code. If Proposition 208 passes, their top tax rate will be even higher than Fortune 500 companies.  

Research papers from the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Tax Research Association have zeroed in on the extent to which Arizona small businesses get walloped by Proposition 208’s tax increase.  

“An analysis of IRS data—supplemented by additional modeling and adjustments to identify only those Arizona taxpayers directly affected by the rate increase— reveals an estimated 90,000 Arizona tax filers who will be affected. Of these, more than 50% would be small business owners,”  by Goldwater’s director of education policy, Matt Beinenburg, and senior fellow Jim Rounds.  

As ATRA’s Sean McCarthy , those small businesses are job creators. “Fifty-eight percent of Arizonans in the private sector work for a business that pays its income taxes via the IIT (individual income tax).” 

A higher tax burden for these small businesses means depriving them of working capital (as  by Republic columnist Bob Robb) that they can use to hire new employees and make the investments in things like machinery and equipment that have led to Arizona having one of the country’s strongest, most dynamic economies and where, pre-pandemic, one of our toughest challenges was finding qualified workers to fill available positions.  

The proponents attempt to argue that the initiative delivers when it comes to accountability, but here again they swing and miss. Proposition 208’s definitions are so expansive as to who’s eligible for funding that there’s no guarantee new dollars will reach teachers. Never mind that Proposition 208 depends on the most volatile segment of state tax revenues. No district would base its budgets or teacher pay contracts on the slice of the tax pie that experiences the wildest fluctuations. As ATRA’s McCarthy details, the first year of the great recession saw revenues in these brackets plunge more than 30% due to cratering business profits. If school districts are banking on these revenues, then they’re in for a wild—and disappointing—ride.   

Proposition 208’s ad makers have a difficult task on their hands. They’re attempting to sell a huge permanent tax increase on small businesses that falls far short of delivering for teachers, and they’re attempting to do so in the middle of a pandemic. If their first three spots are any indication, we can expect more glitzy productions between now and Election Day, but very little straight talk.  

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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Let’s stipulate that no one is going to confuse California’s progressive Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, with more conservative governors like Arizona’s Doug Ducey. But even Newsom understands the danger that a dramatic income tax increase can mean for a state’s competitiveness.

In announcing his support of a ballot proposition to create a “split roll” property tax system that will treat residential and commercial properties differently for tax purposes (itself a bad idea), Newsom also said he will an effort to raise the top state income tax rate and impose a wealth tax. 

What’s happening in California is instructive to the debate over Arizona’s Proposition 208, which would catapult Arizona’s top income tax rate into the top-10-highest in the nation by raising it 77.7%, from the current 4.5% to 8%.  

“In a global, mobile economy, now is not the time for the kind of state tax increases on income we saw proposed at the end of this legislative session and I will not sign such proposals into law,” Newsom .

Even Newsom gets it: In the freest country on the planet, individuals and businesses of all sizes can move to more welcoming tax environments when their current jurisdiction becomes overtaxed and overregulated.

At an August , Newsom was cool to higher tax proposals, saying California has to “consider the impacts of those decisions on your ability to retain and attract talent, individuals, companies, and your competitiveness. Everything needs to be considered in that light. And I would encourage those that are making proposals in this space to consider those impacts in relationship to what may or may not be happening in other parts of this nation.”

Granted, California already has the highest income tax rate in the country at 13.3% (on income over $1 million), but the principal that certain taxes are particularly damaging to economic expansion holds.  

When a big income tax increase during the middle of pandemic is too extreme even for Gavin Newsom, that should tell us all we need to know about the wisdom of Proposition 208. 

Glenn Hamer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

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