News

Right now, the most important thing you can do for our community is to sign – and ask your friends to sign – six petitions to help pause disastrous budget bills the legislature passed in June. I’m working with grassroots groups Invest in AZ Now and AZ Deserves Better who racing to gather 150,000 signatures before the end of this month.

While we elect legislators to set policy and priorities for our state, in fact, as citizens, YOU have the ultimate say. And right now, your signature on several petitions is pivotal to making sure you can indeed have that final say on bills passed in this year’s legislative session that create tax loopholes for the wealthiest Arizonans that will cut billions of dollars in state revenue needed for schools, infrastructure, solutions for the water shortage crisis, and other essential state responsibilities AND 
threaten your sacred right to vote.

Business leaders, parents, grandparents, and others across Arizona are demanding that our state invest in education. The way to build a strong economy is to make sure we have a strong, educated workforce. Yet, the Arizona legislature’s on-going failure to adequately fund our public schools has left us ranked 49th in the nation in per pupil funding, resulting in crumbling school buildings, inadequate resources, and a severe teacher shortage. It’s criminal.

With an unexpected revenue surplus this year, we finally have the chance to address long-neglected needs in education, infrastructure, healthcare, and other state responsibilities that benefit every Arizonan. Unfortunately, even though Republicans hold only the slightest majority in the House (31-29) and Senate (16-14), they continue to exclude all Democrats (who represent nearly half the electorate) from budget discussions. That’s just wrong.

I take seriously my job to represent you in the legislature, and to communicate back what’s happening at the Capitol.  Unfortunately, Republicans have completely excluded Democrats in creating a partisan budget for our state (though we represent almost half the voters). The centerpiece is a flat tax plan that would give a PERMANENT $1.5 billion annual cut mainly benefitting the wealthiest Arizonans while neglecting our promise of opportunity and a thriving economy for everyone.

The Budget May Come to the Floor This Week! I take seriously the commitment I made  to work together as your representative to ensure that every student gets the quality education they deserve, and all Arizonans get their chance to thrive. So, I’ve been especially disheartened to find that though both chambers are almost evenly […]

Join Me Online This Saturday, May 8, at 3 pm for the Arizona House Democrats Budget Town Hall It’s budget season, the time of year when your legislature completes its primary purpose.  Our state budget is really important to all of us since it will reflect our values as the people of Arizona. So, your voice is […]

Where We Are Now in the 2021 Session Your legislature can – and does make many changes in state law each year, but its main purpose is to create a budget for Arizona. And we’re not there yet. So first, an update on the law-making part. Thank you to everyone who has emailed me about […]

Stop Shifting the Tax Burden to Working Families – Lifting Ourselves Up By Our Bootstraps The American Dream is based on the idea that here in this country people can lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. It’s what makes us the “land of the free, and home of the brave.” But there are no […]

As poet Amanda Gorman so eloquently put it on Inauguration Day this year, the power to bring light to this world lies within every one of us. That’s why I’ve introduced HB2824 to invest in Adult Education in Arizona and why I hope you’ll use your power to help me get it heard in the […]

This week a number of bills will be heard in the State Senate that would once again drain more money from our public district and charter schools. I’ve provided a link to the Save Our Schools newsletter where you can learn more about those specific bills and what you can do. You’ll find it at the end of this article.

  Arizonans are struggling. So, many people were rightfully alarmed last week to hear Gov Ducey advocate for a $1.2 BILLION PERMANENT TAX CUT in our budget. That kind of cut, during a pandemic, no less, would hamstring our state for years to come. Every business person knows that when you want to grow a […]