I’ve been posting on the need for Arizona legislators and the Governor to stand firm in the need to cut the budget and NOT raise taxes. This is one of those historical moments where Republicans have a golden opportunity to take advantage of the crisis here in Arizona, recalibrate the budget to reality, establish priorities and do the right thing for Arizona. As I’ve already posted, they have a clear shot at doing this with majorities in both houses, a liberal media on the financial ropes and an overwhelming community consensus for sacrifice and belt-tightening.

One of the starting points for legislators to do this is to sign the pledge that they won’t raise OUR taxes. Our friends at the Arizona Free Enterprise Club have made this all the much easier. Here is a press release they issued in December. Now that the legislature is in full swing, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit this:

Do Taxpayers Want Higher Taxes to Balance the Budget?

Arizona Free Enterprise Club launches No New Taxes Petition

Phoenix, AZ – The Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a pro-growth advocacy group, today launched a No New Taxes petition in response to a growing discussion about a possible tax increase to balance the budget.

“If incoming lawmakers are going to hear from professors and pundits that the state’s budget woes were caused by tax cuts and can be solved by tax hikes, then they ought to hear what actual taxpayers have to say about it as well,” said Steve Voeller, president of the Club.

Professors at Arizona State University released a study that blames the state’s $1.7 billion budget deficit on income and property tax cuts from the 1990′s and 2006. The study also states that a $1 billion tax increase would be preferable to budget cuts of the same size. Citing the ASU study, the Tucson Citizen argued that there is a case to be made to increase taxes. Finally, although she said it’s “not something she’d like to see,” soon-to-be-Governor Jan Brewer didn’t rule out a tax increase.

As a percentage of the general fund, Arizona has the largest budget deficit in the country. The Free Enterprise Club has argued that the deficit was caused by state spending that far surpassed reasonable measuring sticks for budget growth.

The Arizona budget grew from $6.5 billion in 2004 to $10.6 billion in 2008, a 63 percent increase. Over that same time period, personal income growth was 37 percent and population plus inflation growth was about 30 percent.

“You can’t grow government faster than the ability of taxpayers to pay for it,” Voeller said.

The petition can be found at: www.azfec.org/NoNewTaxes.