Rep. Jay Lawrence (R-Scottsdale) is proposing a summer sales tax holiday to give Arizona parents a little relief on school supplies.
Items like pencils, paper and crayons would not be taxed, up to $100 in sales. That means a family would save about $5.60 with the state’s 5.6% sales tax.
But Julie Erfle, an activist for more school funding, said the idea doesn’t work.
"There's a lot of parents and teachers that spend more than $100 on school supplies," Erfle said. "And so you're going to give them a few dollars back? And then in the process you're going to take away some funding that actually funds education? The whole premise is really quite ridiculous."
Lawrence estimates the loss of state dollars for a two-week tax break would be about $5 million to $7 million. Sixteen states have a sales tax holiday this year.
