GOV. BREWER'S JOBS PLAN ON A FAST TRACK

posted by Michael Chihak

Gov. Jan Brewer's economic development plan, manifest as SB1001 in a special legislative session, could see quick action with approval as early as Wednesday, some are saying.

The plan would reduce several business taxes -- including taxes on corporate income and property -- and offer tax and other incentives to attract business.

The proposal would give tax credits to companies creating "quality jobs", defined as jobs paying more than the median income in the county where it is created. For that, an employer would get a tax credit of $3,000 a year for three years for each of up to 400 jobs.

Corporate income taxes would decline from the current 6.9 percent to 4.9 percent in half-point increments for four years, starting in 2014. That would save businesses more than $200 million at current income levels.

Total tax savings for businesses at full implementation of the cuts would be $400 million by the governor's office estimate, $538 million by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee's estimate.

Brewer and legislative leaders say business growth stimulated by the cuts should help offset the tax revenue losses. They also say that the plan should help replace many of the 300,000 jobs that Arizona has lost in three years.

The state's unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in December, the last month for which statistics are available.