Business leaders want education funded, poll says
by Carli Brosseau on Dec. 27, 2008, under Edge, Local, SpecialThe Tucson economic development group recently asked businesses what they most want the state Legislature to fund. The answer was resounding: education.
About 77 percent of 600 respondents checked the box on the survey that said “AZ needs to make significant new investments in educational achievement to meet real needs and avoid a crisis.”
Several legislators have put education funding, the largest chunk of the state’s budget, on the chopping block as they work to close a $1.2 billion financial hole.
The president and CEO of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Joe Snell, said in a news release that the poll would guide TREO’s lobbying.
“TREO will use the survey results to work closely with legislators in the coming year in order to have an effect on state budgeting decisions,” he said. “In a tough economy, decisions made now by our legislators will be critical to the future of our local economic development efforts.”
The questions posed in the online survey addressed education, transportation, technology and communication infrastructure and economic development.
Businesses’ priorities, from top to bottom, were maintaining elementary education funding, increasing economic development, maintaining higher education funding, investing in transportation and updating technology and communication infrastructure.
More than half of respondents said it was “very important” to revamp Arizona’s tax structure, and more than one-third said it was “very important” to expand economic development tools.
The poll was taken from Dec. 5-11.
