Significant move comes after more than
a year of research, debate and vetting
STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX (Feb. 16, 2011) – After more than a year of debate, research and vetting, the Arizona House of Representatives passed a comprehensive Jobs Bill today, laying the groundwork for Arizona’s economic recovery.
This significant and historic bill represents the largest tax cut in Arizona history.
“With passage of the Jobs Bill, we are putting our confidence in the private sector and hard-working Arizonans rather than in government. As our federal government has demonstrated, spending more on government doesn’t create jobs,” said House Speaker Kirk Adams, the sponsor of HB 2001. “We have not seen such an aggressive reform of our tax policy or efforts to spur the creation of jobs in at least two generations. With this bill we are lighting up in big bold neon letters for all the world to see: ‘Arizona is open for business.’”
The Jobs Bill originated last year in the House of Representatives after Speaker Adams commissioned a study on Arizona’s economic crisis by noted economist Elliot Pollock. That study became the framework for the Jobs Bill, a combination of broad-base tax cuts and targeted incentives to attract new businesses to Arizona and create jobs.
“This job creation package has a large and growing coalition of support from all sectors of the business community,” said House Majority Leader Andy Tobin. “This is a pro-active approach to turning around our economy. We can’t sit around and hope that the construction and housing industries improve. We need to diversify our economy and attract new businesses. This is a fundamental shift in that direction.”
The unemployment rate in Arizona has remained above nine percent for the past 21 months with some Arizona counties in double-digit unemployment. The state has lost nearly 300,000 jobs since December 2007.
This comprehensive bill provides tax relief for small and large businesses to allow them to start hiring again, all of which is designed to make Arizona more competitive in attracting and retaining businesses in the state.
This legislation focuses on several areas:
- Corporate income
- Business property tax cuts
- Job training
- the newly formed Arizona Commerce Authority
No comments:
Post a Comment