Arizona Republic: Kari Lake’s Frivolous Economic “Plan” Means Defunding The Police Across Arizona

Laurie Roberts: “Kari Lake’s plan to ‘fix’ Arizona’s economy demonstrates just what can happen when you have a governor who reads teleprompters instead of budgets” 

PHOENIX — In today’s scathing column by Laurie Roberts on how Kari Lake’s economic agenda would defund Arizona police, Arizonans are once again reminded of how unfit Lake is to be their governor.

Roberts’ piece highlights how Lake’s “plan” would do nothing to actually put money back in the pockets of working Arizonans. Instead, Lake’s plan would get rid of the tax revenue that funds law enforcement in Arizona’s cities and towns, defunding local police.

Here are some key excerpts from the article:

  • “Kari Lake this week rolled out her “plan to fix the Arizona economy.” I suspect it may have been written on the back of a cocktail napkin.”
  • “The state doesn’t have a $5 billion surplus. Had Lake done her homework, she would know that the Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimates a $2.8 billion surplus in the coming fiscal year and warns that could change “given the economic uncertainty.””
  • “I suspect she doesn’t have a clue where that money will come from. Or how she’ll convince a Legislature dominated by Maricopa County to subsidize the rest of the state. Her expertise, after all, is in reading a teleprompter, not a budget.”
  • “​​If she had, she would have learned about the crushing impact of her “relief” plan to city and town budgets — at a time when people are clamoring to hire, not fire, police officers.  And that’s before she follows through with her pledge to get rid of the income tax, a plan [that] would cut another $1.1 billion from cities and towns.”
  • “Under Lake’s plan, cities and towns across Arizona [are] looking at massive cuts to the police and fire departments that comprise the biggest piece of their budgets.”

With Lake’s empty promises and conspiracy theories at the forefront of her campaign, it’s no surprise that she’s struggling to consolidate broad support from Arizona Republicans and Independents. Meanwhile, prominent Republican leaders across the state like Mesa Mayor John Giles are backing Katie Hobbs for governor. The Republicans for Katie Hobbs coalition is growing by the day, because Arizonans know that Hobbs is the only candidate who will work to solve the state’s biggest challenges.

Between Lake’s disastrous economic plan that will defund first responders and her dangerous agenda to shift law enforcement resources towards going after doctors, it’s clear that Kari Lake is too extreme for Arizona.

Click here to read Laurie Roberts’ full piece in the Arizona Republic, and go to Katie Hobbs’ website to learn more about her plans for a better Arizona.