For Immediate Release
Friday, Nov. 4th, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, Jberry@azdem.org
Kari Lake Calls Arizona Mayors Liars For Speaking Truth About Devastating Impact Her Economic Plans Would Have on Their Cities
PHOENIX– Kari Lake, a failed tv anchor, who’s never offered a real solution to help Arizonans, thinks she knows more than Arizona mayors. Lake called mayors and other elected officials who’ve come out against her bare bones economic plans, liars during an interview with Dennis Welch this week. “Some of these elected officials in our cities were saying, it’s going to hurt our police and law enforcement. They know that’s a lie,” Lake told Welch.
It is not a lie. In fact, Republican Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzilllo, said Lake’s economic proposal is “ill-advised,” and warned that funding for public safety services as well as affordable housing could be slashed as a result. Pizzillo said Lake’s plans would “inevitably put [local governments] all in incredibly difficult positions to have to make unintended cuts to police and firefighters across the state, as well as allow for fewer opportunities to support multifamily rental properties.” Prescott councilman Brandon Montoya also shared that the city’s financial director voiced alarm at Lake’s economic “plans,” saying they would “decimate” their budget, forcing them to make hard choices on cutting services.
Kari Lake has been ridiculed by policy experts and Republicans who say her ideas for the economy would increase costs, exacerbate inflation and defund local city’s police and fire departments. A water policy expert said that Lake’s ideas for tackling Arizona’s water crisis “would make the price of the water drastically more expensive for water users” and “might price out most people.” Last month economist Dennis Hoffman, who advised governors on both sides of the aisle for 40 years, said Lake’s economic plan “just doesn’t work” and would “add jet fuel” to inflation. Phoenix, Arizona is already the worst in the nation for inflation. As Laurie Roberts wrote, “Lake’s plan to ‘fix’ Arizona’s economy demonstrates just what can happen when you have a governor who reads teleprompters instead of budgets.”
Meanwhile, Katie Hobbs’ detailed plan to bolster our economy would relieve burdens on families by providing a child care tax credit of $250 per child, along with eliminating sales tax on everyday necessities like medicine, diapers, baby formula, and school supplies. Hoffman praised Hobbs’ plan for tackling inflation and getting people back to work, saying it “can help combat inflation,” and that it would “benefit lower-income people in a state where upper-income earners have benefitted the most from tax cuts.”
“I trust actual elected officials over a failed teleprompter reader when it comes to knowing how her bare bones economic ideas would impact their cities. These mayors and elected leaders are right that if Lake was governor, Arizonans would be paying more for everything and could see funding for their local police and firefighters slashed,” said Josselyn Berry, spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party.