Republican Gov. Jan Brewer

Analysis: Brewer's Missteps Doomed Sales Tax

PHOENIX (Wire Services) September 17, 2009 — No man is an island? Tell that to Gov. Jan Brewer. GOP governor misread Legislature's opposition. After nearly eight months in office, the Republican finds herself ostracized by legislators of her own party, alienated by Democrats and eyed by prominent politicos on both sides of the aisle who have designs on the governorship in the 2010 election.

Brewer bet big on a sales-tax increase. In the face of bipartisan legislative opposition, she pushed it with single-minded resolve for months.
During that time, Brewer unveiled no other major policy initiatives unrelated to the budget - so confident was she that she would find success on her signature issue. That didn't happen.

It was a fundamental misreading of both a national political climate that was growing increasingly anti-tax and anti-government and a Legislature that had veered to the right after the 2008 election.

"(Brewer's) staff was negligent in the advice they gave her on what she could actually get out of this Legislature," said House Majority Whip Andy Tobin, a Paulden Republican tasked with lining up support for Brewer's tax plan.

Hands-off strategy

Brewer has a reputation as a fierce campaigner, whether working a room or walking a neighborhood, winning over voters one by one with her force of personality.

It's a trait that has served her well in a political career of more than 2 1/2 decades. Brewer has never lost an election at the state or local level as a legislator, county supervisor or secretary of state.

So in March, after Brewer formally asked the Legislature for a temporary tax increase, it was no surprise when she hit the road to make her pitch in face-to-face meetings with local government officials, community groups and media all over the state.

But Brewer was reluctant to do the same among legislators, even deferring to them in terms of how the tax would be formulated.

Weeks passed. Months. Gubernatorial aides said Brewer, herself a former lawmaker, didn't want to meddle in the legislative process. She wanted to give lawmakers their space.

The governor didn't unveil a detailed budget plan for fiscal 2010 until the beginning of June. By that time, the Legislature was deadlocked on the tax provision and just a month remained before a budget plan was due.

Equally critical, legislators had long since begun to view Brewer as detached. Uninvolved. Out of the loop. It was a strange new perception of a politician who'd always been known for her hands-on style.

"She could have helped us and helped her cause if she'd come down and walked the halls (of the House and Senate) more than she did," said Senate Majority Whip Steve Pierce, a Prescott Republican. "I can't criticize her because this year is such an anomaly. I think the governor is doing the best that she can with the tools that she has."

When speaking off the record, many legislators aren't so kind. They speak in terms of a governor who was at once sparse with budget details yet totally unbending on the one detail she demanded: a 1-cent-per-dollar sales-tax increase. Brewer never adjusted her budget strategy to political reality.

"I've got 10 percent unemployment in my district," said Sen. Ron Gould, a Lake Havasu City Republican. "How does it help those people to take more of their money?"

Democrats hold line

Meanwhile, Brewer was reticent for months to bargain with Democratic leaders for budget votes. Once it became apparent that she needed one or two members of the minority party to give her enough support to refer the tax increase to a special-election ballot, the governor tried to woo rank-and-file legislators for their vote.

But the Democratic caucus never split, united in its opposition to the overall budget plan, angered by the party's minimal role in the negotiations where it was crafted and content to watch Brewer and GOP legislative leaders flail on the eve of an election year.

Political consultant and Brewer ally Chuck Coughlin called it "unconscionable to me that Democrats have not given her a single vote" for a tax referral. Revenue from the proposal was to be earmarked for the Democratic priorities of education, health and human services, and public safety.

"Democrats were very much in line with what (Brewer) wanted to accomplish," explained House Minority Leader David Lujan, a Phoenix Democrat.

"She just, for whatever reason, did not know how to forge moderate compromise. She just couldn't bring the sides together to get what she wanted."

'Some successes'

For her part, Brewer seems at peace with the strategy she pursued since becoming governor. And she holds out hope that a tax increase may yet be referred to the ballot in the months ahead.

"Given the situation, the cards we were dealt, we made some successes, and some things I had planned on pursuing were not completed," Brewer told The Arizona Republic. "I had to lead. I felt that I did lead."

Any regrets? Brewer pauses, staring straight ahead. Five seconds pass. Ten. Fifteen.

"I don't know, possibly participating more intently, maybe, with the bodies in the House and Senate from the beginning.

"Maybe I should have met more often with more members of the Legislature early on."

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