To keep up to date with this breakdown of news in the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates.

By Therese Dunphy, Editor in Chief

Arizona

In early February, a bipartisan vote of the state Senate endorsed a three-year hike in the state sales tax. The YumaSun.com reports that — if approved — the tax increase would help forestall more than $900 million in annual cuts throughout the next three years as the state faces an anticipated deficit of $3.4 billion next year. During the debate, Sen. Rebecca Rios (D-Apache Junction) led an effort to extend the 1-percent point hike to taxes paid by the mining and sand and gravel industries. She pointed out that mining has a 2.5-percent tax levy on extracted minerals while sand and gravel is taxed at a 3.2-percent rate. She said the industries should be “good corporate neighbors” and contribute their share. Lawmakers rejected her proposal.

California

Cemex announced that it will permanently shut down its cement plant and quarry on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the 133-year-old operation was temporarily closed last March and company officials said it would reopen when cement demand improved. “Unfortunately, market conditions have not improved and the company has made the very difficult decision to permanently shut down operations,” Cemex Vice President of Human Resources John Andrews wrote in a letter to employees. The facility employed approximately 120 people.

California