After just two short weeks in this new legislative session, it is clear that we will be kept busy fighting policies that hurt our students, teachers, and our future.

Tomorrow is Opening Day at the state legislature, and we face some important issues. None is more urgent than addressing the Expenditure Limit for Arizona’s public schools.

Please join me and my guest Phoenix Councilwoman Deb Stark for this special Giving Thanks Zoom Town Hall. Come learn about neighbors working to make our community a better, safer place for all of us – and how you can help, too. Register here and the link to join will be mailed to you.

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

The way to build a strong economy is to make sure we have a strong, educated workforce. Yet, the Arizona legislature’s ongoing 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.

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.

Republicans have completely excluded Democrats in creating a partisan budget for our state (though we represent almost half the voters). Their 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.

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.

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 important in this process.

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.

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 bootstraps when people don’t even have boots.

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.

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.

As of Tuesday, Jan 19 at 9 am, Arizonans age 65 and older will be able to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine. To schedule an appointment at State Farm Stadium or multiple other vaccination sites create an account here.

As we honor Dr. King this weekend, I’m thinking not only of his life, but also millions of others who continue to work peacefully and persistently within our democracy for greater freedom and justice for all people.

The new legislative session has begun, and I’m honored to represent you on both the Education and Appropriations committees.

One of those ways is to use the Request to Speak (RTS) program from the comfort of your own couch by sending a message to legislators from your computer. Use this link to sign up.

As a newly elected State Representative, I’m focused on making our state the best place it can be for all Arizonans, but this unprecedented event has demanded the attention of all of us.