New report: 2026 ‘job killer’ bills could have cost Arizona 424,000 jobs, $48 billion in GDP

A new analysis from the Arizona Chamber Foundation and Common Sense Institute (CSI) Arizona finds that legislation proposed during the 2026 legislative session could have imposed more than $31 billion in new annual costs on Arizona’s economy, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs and the state’s economic competitiveness at risk.

The 2026 Arizona “Job Killers” report identified 119 bills that would have raised taxes, increased labor and energy costs, imposed new legal and administrative burdens or added other fees and operating restrictions on Arizona businesses. Of those, 88 carried quantifiable costs totaling at least $31.5 billion annually. If enacted together, CSI estimates the proposals could have reduced employment by 424,400 jobs, lowered per-capita income by as much as $4,100 annually and reduced state GDP by $48 billion.

“Arizona’s economic success is not an accident. It reflects years of policy choices that have kept taxes competitive, preserved a flexible labor environment, cut red tape, and given businesses the confidence to invest and hire here,” said Danny Seiden, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “We're fortunate none of these bills became law. If they had, Arizona's competitive advantages could have been dramatically undermined. Arizona’s competitive position is strong, but we can’t take it for granted.”

Among the proposals examined in this year’s report:

• Repeal of Arizona’s right-to-work protections: the single most damaging proposal quantified in the report, projected to cost the state 30,000 to 40,000 jobs and reduce annual economic growth by 21%.
• Nearly $3.8 billion in new taxes, including proposals to add a 3.5% tax on personal income above $250,000 and an 8% tax on income above $1 million, along with changes to corporate taxes and new employer payroll taxes.
• More than $17.5 billion in new labor costs, including mandatory paid-leave programs, new scheduling and overtime requirements, minimum wage increases and additional workplace mandates.
• An estimated $7.1 billion in new energy and environmental costs, including mandates requiring utilities to generate at least 50% of their electricity from renewable sources and requiring data centers to transition to renewable energy with battery storage.
• An estimated $3.3 billion in new legal and administrative costs, including proposals involving rent control, mandatory cash payments, restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers and other new operating requirements.

“No single policy determines the entire direction of an economy, but policy choices compound over time,” said Katie Ratlief, executive director of CSI Arizona. “That’s exactly why we do this analysis every year. A tax here, a new mandate there, another regulatory requirement somewhere else may not seem significant on its own. But put them all together, and the economic picture can change dramatically. Our job is to connect those dots and give Arizonans a clear view of what these policy choices could mean for jobs, investment and the future of our economy.”

Since 2016, Arizona’s real GDP has grown 20% faster than Colorado’s, reversing the trend of the previous decade. Arizona’s net interstate migration has also increased 18.5% since 2020 compared with its average during the 2010s, while Colorado’s has declined by more than 90%.

CSI estimates that if Arizona had instead followed Colorado’s economic growth trajectory since 2019, the state would have approximately 154,405 fewer workers and $26.4 billion less in real GDP today.

None of the 119 bills identified in the report ultimately became law. The report notes, however, that similar measures are introduced each legislative session and points to Colorado, where CSI estimates policymakers have enacted at least 50 measures detrimental to economic growth in recent years.

“Arizona’s competitive advantage is something we have built over decades, but it is not permanent,” Chamber Executive Vice President Courtney Coolidge said. “As lawmakers tackle real challenges around affordability, workforce, energy and water, the answer cannot be to make it more expensive to hire people, build projects and grow businesses. We need to solve problems without sacrificing the policies that have made Arizona one of the best states in the country to invest and create jobs.”

The full 2026 Arizona “Job Killers” report is available here.