Prop 208: Policy Expert Tells NFIB Members How Bad It Really Is

Date: October 19, 2020

Conference call provided small-business owners with information to help spread the word

With two weeks to go before Election Day, NFIB Arizona held a special, educational conference call Friday, October 16, on Proposition 208 with the goal of providing its members with the tools to help persuade voters still undecided why they should vote ‘No.’

“We would encourage everyone not only to vote ‘No’ on 208 but to educate people in your inner circle,” said Sean McCarthy, senior research analyst for the Arizona Tax Research Association, who presented helpful PowerPoint slides on what the proposition really is and isn’t.

McCarthy called on the right group of people to get the word out. According to an NFIB poll, “the most common public affairs and political activities in which small employers appear to engage include: initiating discussion(s) with an employee(s) regarding the impact of a policy issue on the firm and membership(s) in an organization(s) with a policy/political bent.”

The power of small-business persuasion and the small-business vote is not small at all. Nearly nine in ten adults (89%) report a positive view of small businesses, according to Morning Consult. “These positive sentiments extend across party lines … Republicans (92% positive) and Democrats (90% positive) are united in their appreciation for small business, and when it comes to determining who should represent their communities in elected office … the vast majority (59%) say they would prefer a small business owner to represent them over the CEO of a large corporation (4%), a union representative (9%) or a lawyer (6%). Click here for more on the power of the small-business vote.

Highlights from McCarthy’s remarks included:

  • “If you’re a person that loves public education and wants to see more money for public education, this (Prop. 208) is not what you’re looking for.”
  • “What does this do? The money generated by the tax? Not much. It would be one thing if this were a game-changer. It would be one thing if we could say, ‘this will change K-12 forever. Regrettably, this thing is not that significant because it taxes so few taxpayers.”
  • “Pretty interesting that the proponents are saying a ‘decade of cuts’ and completely ignoring all of the increases in the last several years … We’ve made substantial strides in K-12. There’s more room to go but the way that you get there is a strong economy. The way you get there is by adding revenues not by have tax increases that are going to hurt small businesses.”

Click the graphic below to listen to the presentation.

Related Content: Small Business News | Arizona | Elections

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