The Sun Lakes Republican Club will feature “Proposition 123-Yes or No?” with Mark Swenson, Deputy Treasurer and a representative of the “Yes on Prop 123 Committee” at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Arizona Room of the Sun Lakes Country Club, 25601 S. Sun Lakes Blvd., Sun Lakes, AZ 85248. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this important presentation on the impact of increasing funding for education and other uses from the Arizona State Land Trust Fund. This is an important constitutional issue that will be voted upon by registered Arizona voters during the Special Election scheduled for May 17. How you vote will have a ripple effect on future taxation, including property taxes. This meeting will explore both sides of the issue.

The Arizona Education Finance Amendment, Proposition 123 is a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. If approved by voters, the measure would increase education funding by $3.5 billion over the course of 10 years by allocating $1.4 billion from the general fund and increasing annual distributions of the state trust land permanent funds to education. It would raise the distributions from 2.5 percent of the average value of the funds to 6.9 percent for the next 10 fiscal years

Mr. Swenson is Deputy Treasurer, Policy and Research, for the State of Arizona and first joined the Treasurer’s Office in January 2007. Mark has held senior executive advisory positions for elected officials in state government for 20 years, including three state treasurers, three senate presidents, and five senate majority leaders. Prior to the Treasurer’s office, Mark was employed at the Arizona State Senate for more than 12 years on majority staff as a senior policy advisor. From 2002 through 2006, Mark was the senior policy advisor for budget and tax policy. Previously, he served as policy director and also advised the majority leadership on education, natural resources, economic development policy and media relations. Prior to his service in the Senate, Mark was a reporter for the Tucson Citizen, covering state and local politics for nine years; and he is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

In addition, AZ State Rep. Jeff Wenninger will offer a brief update on the current AZ legislative session. For more information visit our web site at www.slgop.org, or contact Mike Tennant at 480-802-0178.