Dave Wells is professor in the School of Letters and Sciences at Arizona State University.

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Where do you stand on Brewer plan for Arizona? Education takes big hit in GOP plan to balance state budget

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One of the peculiar aspects of politics is that sometimes it takes a Republican to raise taxes.

Imagine if former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano had called for the $1 billion increase in taxes for the next three years that Gov. Jan Brewer asked for recently. With Napolitano, the Republican-controlled Legislature's response would have been "No way!"

But the Republican Legislature can't so easily pick that same fight with their fellow Republican, Brewer. They need her to succeed, or they'll likely face a viable Democratic contender in two years.

Over the last few months, through opinion pieces around the state, I've implored Brewer and our elected officials to increase taxes. Other than a rather meek proposal to tax country-club memberships, I never got a significant public call from Democrats, and certainly none from Republicans.

Democrats are still afraid to stick their necks out on something they couldn't push through, and small-government Republicans have finally inherited the opportunity to make the deep cuts that they've wanted for years.

All along I've told people concerned about the budget that Brewer's leadership would determine what was possible. She's responsible to an entire state, not a politically safe legislative district, and she's thankfully shown the courage and vision we needed. Democrats need to join her, but will Republicans?

Many readers may continue to believe government rampantly wastes money, but careful observers will see that even before the budget crisis, Arizona systematically underinvested in its employees and K-12 education. State employees have rarely received wage increases in the last two decades. In K-12 education, we spend less per pupil than every state in the country except Utah.

We're the only state in the nation that, adjusted for inflation, is spending less per child today than 20 years ago — and that's from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group which also reports that our test scores are mediocre at best on standardized tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the ACT. The states that perform best invest far more resources in K-12 education.

Over the last 15 years, we've cut taxes by $3 billion, including many corporate taxes, and yet we still failed to diversify the economy and are in dire straits. We need a permanent increase in revenues to set us on the proper trajectory. I'll settle for a temporary one, as that's the only thing politically feasible at the capital.

It takes a two-thirds vote to pass a tax increase, but only a majority to refer it for a special election, so expect the latter if all the Democrats and a few Republicans are willing to back the governor's call. That would be a rather odd coalition for Brewer, but it's her most likely one.

Brewer also called for a revision of the Voter Protection Act. In 1998, it passed out of voters' anger at the Legislature's meddling with voter initiatives, but it's poor policy. Here the question will be whether the Legislature overreaches in reform.

The way to best respect voters would be by proposing a two-thirds vote in the Legislature and the governor's signature to change citizen initiatives.

If pragmatism prevails, we'll vote on these in June.

On StarNet: Tucson teacher Jan Autenreith argues in a guest opinion that legislators must balance budget cuts with increases in revenue. azstarnet.com/opinion