Expert: SB 1062 won’t derail Arizona’s economic recovery
Feb 25, 2014, 7:11 AM | Updated: 11:59 am
PHOENIX — Valley economist Jim Rounds with Elliott D. Pollack and Company said if Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1062 into law it will not bring major long-term damage to Arizona’s economy.
But that’s not to say Arizona won’t take a financial hit in lost tourism dollars.
“Arizona has a long history of weathering these political controversies. My concern is the short term. There will be protests,” Rounds said.
Rounds opposes SB 1062 and is calling on Brewer to veto it.
“We had to go through some of this with Senate Bill 1070 (illegal immigration law) and we weathered that fine, although some industries were impacted. But state lawmakers supporting SB 1062 should have known better than to make political statements with this bill.”
In the long run, Rounds said he’s not concerned about the impact to the state’s economy.
“We are at the cusp of accelerating our economic growth because of our tax policy and economic growth policy. But if 1062 is signed into law, we will be dealing with it for two to three years.
“This bill is not about economic growth as a handful of its supporters have implied. Many of them don’t understand how economics work,” Rounds said.