On Sept. 29, the Arizona Chapter of NAIOP hosted a webinar to educate members on the issues and races that will impact the commercial real estate industry after the Nov. 3 general election.
Glenn Hamer, President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Karrin Taylor Robson, member of the Arizona Board of Regents, Founder and President of Arizona Strategies and former Executive Vice President of DMB Associates; John Shadegg, Shareholder at the law firm Polsinelli and Member of the U.S. Congress from 1995 to 2011; and Jim Rounds, President of Rounds Consulting Group, provided insights and analysis of the upcoming election.
The event started with a discussion about how Arizona has become a “swing state.” Panelists cited in-migration to our state as well as shifts between traditional Democratic and Republican constituencies as contributing to Arizona becoming a more “purple” state.
“You have a presidential race, U.S. Senate race, state legislative races and even … Maricopa County Board of Supervisors races that are all on a razor’s edge,” Hamer says.
Referring to the economic recession caused by COVID-19, Rounds, whose firm conducts economic analysis of public policy issues, explained that “the way this (election) shakes out is going to have an impact on how the U.S. and how Arizona can set up a recovery package and come out of this.”
The discussion on Proposition 208, the tax increase for education generated a lot of interest from NAIOP members. Prop. 208 is projected to cost Arizona a loss of approximately 124,000 jobs over 10 years. Half of the income taxpayers that will experience an increase in taxes are small business owners, many of whom are struggling to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19.
Cong. Shadegg provided details on Prop. 207, the legalization of marijuana for recreational adult use, that are not commonly understood. For example, there is a provision that could put Arizona taxpayers on the hook to pay for the administration of the program in the future.
“In addition to the monopoly it creates, it plays all sorts of games with taxes and with public policy,” the congressman says. “It imposes an excise tax on marijuana sales and then it writes that excise tax can never be raised.”
The Arizona Commerce Authority, Colliers International and Commercial Executive Magazine sponsored this special event, which is part of NAIOP Arizona’s quarterly Market Leader Series.
