Pete Hershberger chairs the House Human Services Committee. He represents District 26 and is co-chair of the bipartisan Children's Caucus.

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The late Sen. Barry Goldwater once asked, "Where is the politician who has not promised to fight to the death for lower taxes — and who has not proceeded to vote for the very spending projects that make tax cuts impossible?"

Well, we're Goldwater Republicans who think the late senator's words still hold wisdom. That is why we broke ranks with fellow Republicans recently when the House passed HB 2220, a proposed permanent repeal of the state equalization property tax.

Two years ago, we Republicans worked out a budget agreement with Gov. Janet Napolitano that temporarily suspended this tax, at a cost to the state of $225 million a year. The state was flush with cash at the time, but in retrospect we showed great wisdom in suspending this tax instead of repealing it outright.

Now our state's economy has hit a rough spot and we're looking at a $1.6 billion deficit this year that promises to grow to at least $2 billion in 2009 and continue into 2010. Clearly, this is not a time when we can afford to raise spending — or cut taxes.

We need to be fiscally responsible in order to solve Arizona's budget shortfall. We believe that Napolitano must reduce state spending — and we want her to make deeper spending cuts than the ones she has proposed.

However, we also believe further cutting of taxes is inappropriate in these trying times.

We can't ignore our obligations to take care of today and prepare for tomorrow. We both represent districts with fast-growing populations. Arizona can and must meet our obligations to provide the education system, needed services and infrastructure you demand and deserve.

However, we must also balance the budget. We can only do both if we stop tax cuts that can't be afforded, especially as local governments are laying off police officers and school districts may look to raise property taxes if their funding is cut, which is more likely with this tax cut.

In addition, few benefits from a permanent repeal will reach the average household. According to the Arizona Tax Research Association, the average homeowner will get about $8.33 a month, or $97 a year.

One of the co-authors of this article stated during a House debate that her grandmother will see only a few dollars in tax savings. Who gets the rest? Large businesses, like utilities, will get about half.

Even if you don't have young children, you benefit directly and indirectly from good schools. Even in today's soft real-estate market, a good neighborhood school can add tens of thousands to the value of your home. And today's kids are the taxpayers of tomorrow, when all of us will be retired. If they're not productive, our pensions and 401(k) accounts won't hold their value.

So yes, we took the hard vote and broke ranks with our fellow Republicans to oppose a permanent repeal of the equalization property tax. We must balance Arizona's tax policy against the need to solve the budget shortfall. For us, our vote was the right vote, and we look forward to explaining our case to our constituents.