Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward, a conservative firebrand who for years has championed the party’s grassroots base, is throwing the weight of the Arizona Republican Party behind a push from some GOP legislators to refer a sales tax increase to the 2020 ballot to generate more money for K-12 education.

The move has left many political observers and Republican officials stunned.

At a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, Ward stood with GOP lawmakers, education officials and members of the business community to tout efforts by Sen. Sylvia Allen and Rep. Michelle Udall to increase an existing 0.6-cent sales tax to a full penny, with the additional tax revenue going to K-12 schools, universities and community colleges.

Allen and Udall want their colleagues to refer the sales tax proposals to the ballot in November 2020.

According to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the proposal would generate about $472 million in additional funding, 75 percent of which would go to K-12 schools. The rest would go to in-state university tuition and community college funding.

“A less-than-half-a-cent adjustment is sustainable, provides the opportunity for every Arizonan to contribute in supporting our schools, and will not negatively impact our economy,” Ward said.

Ward’s decision to support the plan came as a surprise to many political observers who have spent years watching her rally the GOP’s conservative grassroots base. She resigned from the Senate in 2015 to unsuccessfully challenge U.S. Sen. John McCain in the 2016 Republican primary, and lost again two years later as she ran again for the U.S. Senate, this time challenging eventual nominee Martha McSally from the right. She was elected AZGOP chairwoman after running as a more conservative alternative to incumbent Jonathan Lines.

Ward, who served in the Legislature from 2013-2015 and chaired the Senate Education Committee, emphasized her conservative credentials at the press conference. But she touted the two proposals – Senate Concurrent Resolution 1001 and House Concurrent Resolution 2024 – as a Republican solution.

“We’re told endlessly by the left and by the media, many of you out here, that everyone, everyone supports increasing funding for education, and that Republicans try to stop that,” Ward said. “Well, guess what? This ballot referral gives us the opportunity for voters, for everyone, to tell us where they stand on funding education in our great state. Do they feel that we have enough? Or do they feel that we need more?”

Many Republicans were taken aback by Ward’s support for a ballot referral that would ask voters to raise taxes, an issue that for many conservatives is an inviolable line in the sand. After the press conference, when asked how she would respond to conservatives who are angry with her for supporting a proposal for higher taxes, Ward stressed that it’s the voters who will decide whether to raise the sales tax rate.

“There’s no bones about – this is a tax increase. But it’s not (one) that the legislators are going to put upon the people. It’s so that the people can have the choice if they want to have a tax increase or not to fund education. It’s up to the people, and I look forward to hearing from them,” she said.

Though she repeatedly urged lawmakers to refer Allen and Udall’s proposals to the 2020 ballot, Ward wouldn’t comment when asked by the Mirror whether she would vote for it herself. AZGOP spokesman Zachery Henry said that Ward, like many other voters, will have to make a decision about the proposal.

Ward said it’s appropriate for a party chairwoman to get involved in a policy debate because showcasing good Republican policy helps elect good Republican legislators. And she suggested that the sales tax proposal could help win over voters who support other Republican ideas but might be enticed by other tax hike proposals for education funding.

She said that “young, suburban women have drifted to the socialist side,” and an increase to the sales tax to support education will “bring them back to the table for the great ideas of the Republican Party.”

Many political observers expect the 2020 ballot to include other education funding proposals. Some expect a sequel to Invest in Education, a proposed income tax increase for top earners. The Arizona Supreme Court barred the measure from the ballot over questions about its language. The Yellow Sheet Report, a political tipsheet and sister publication of the Arizona Capitol Times, has reported that Arizona State University and the Arizona Education Association have been discussing a separate tax hike initiative for education funding.

Allen described her sales tax proposal as more equitable than increasing Arizona’s income tax rate. And she noted that it’s the only proposal out there right now.

“If you earn less income, you will spend less. If you earn more income, you will spend more. It’s fair. And it is better to tax on what you spend than to tax on what you earn,” Allen said.

Many Republicans questioned Ward’s decision to support a proposal to raise taxes.

“I think it’s good to have a rounded worldview, but that might be a bridge too far,” said Rep. John Allen, R-Phoenix. “She can do whatever she wants. It’s just probably not the most reflective bill of Republican principles that probably could have come out of the Republican Party.”

Chris Baker, a Republican political consultant, told Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts that he believes Ward’s position is a “ham-fisted plan to curry favor with the business community,” and suggested that she believes it will help her with fundraising. The Republic reported that the party has struggled with fundraising since Ward took over as chair.

Just hours after the press conference, Phoenix law firm Beus Gilbert hosted an AZGOP fundraiser headlined by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Beus Gilbert attorney Rodney Glassman has spent years advocating for education funding with business community clients such as former Petsmart CEO Phil Francis, who spoke in favor of the sales tax proposal at Wednesday’s press conference. Glassman was also in attendance, though he didn’t speak.

Glassman and Henry told the Mirror that there is no connection between Ward’s support for the sales tax plan and Beus Gilbert’s decision to host the AZGOP fundraiser. Glassman said Beus Gilbert offered the use of its office for such events to Ward in January.

The timing of Ward’s push for SCR1001 and HCR2024 was curious in that it comes well after the two resolutions missed key legislative deadlines, and appear to have little or no chance of passage during the 2019 session. Neither have been approved by their respective legislative chambers, and the deadline has passed for them to be heard in committee in the other chambers.

Allen said it may take a while to generate the support the plan needs, and noted that it took a couple years to get the current 0.6-cent sales tax, known as Prop. 301, passed. Ward said she’s confident that, if the Legislature doesn’t approve the plan in 2019, something will be referred to the ballot next year.