Native-born Arizonan Analise Ortiz has worked her adult life trying to better the lives of her fellow Grand Canyon State Residents.
First as a journalist. Then as an advocate. Now as a candidate for the Arizona State House in the new Legislative District 24 which encompasses far West Phoenix and parts of South Glendale
Running on a platform of bright futures for everyone, ensuring healthy families, promoting safe communities, and protecting Democracy, Ms. Ortiz pledges to work to improve the criminal justice system, public education, women’s rights, the environment, and affordable housing if elected to the Arizona State Legislature.
She believes “that our communities are strongest when we look out for each other and take care of one another.”
Ms. Ortiz graciously took the time to discuss her candidacy to be a State House Representative from the new Legislative District 24.
The questions and her responses are below.
1) What are, what are at least two reasons you want to run for a term for the Arizona State Legislature?
“My name is Analise. I’m running for the Arizona House of Representatives in the new Legislative District 24. I’m really motivated to run because Arizona is my home. I was born and raised here. And since I was a young kid, I knew that the playing field was not level, particularly for young Latinas, like me. I’m now an auntie to six kids who are growing up here in Arizona. Unfortunately, the public schools have been stripped of funding even more. Rent is becoming unaffordable and we are facing a looming climate crisis with water shortages. The temperature is getting hotter every year. I’m young, and I am worried about my future and the future for my nieces and my nephew. I am running because I want to be sure that all kids in Arizona are able to call this beautiful state home for generations to come. I want to fight for working families to be able to thrive here.”
“The second reason I am running is that for the past several years, I have been fighting for civil rights legislation down at the state Capitol. I have worked to push forward criminal justice reform legislation. Arizona has a very high prison population. We have very harsh sentencing laws that send people to prison for longer sentences when compared to other states. That’s not justice. I hope to continue the work of pushing forward criminal justice reform legislation and keeping it a priority for the Democratic Party.”
2) What are at least two reasons voters should choose you over any opponent in this legislative race?
“One of the most important things for me personally is compassion. So often, we see compassion missing from elected officials and in the political sphere. I am somebody who really puts my heart and soul into giving back to the community and working with the community in order to bring solutions to our problems. I’m someone who understands that people closest to the problem are closest to the solutions. I will always lead with the community in mind.”
“I also want voters to know that I am not taking money from big corporate interests. Corporate interests have too much power in our political process. As I’m knocking on doors and talking to voters, so many people are expressing frustration with Senator Sinema, When you look at Senator Sinema’s donors, it becomes very clear why she has lost touch with the voters of Arizona because she’s not working for the people. She’s working for corporate interests. My campaign is a community-driven campaign and I will always stay true to my values.”
3) If elected, what are at least four issues you will focus on the legislature.
1) Criminal Justice Reform:
“I would like to focus on making Arizona a place that invests in rehabilitation over incarceration. There is proven evidence that locking people away for years and years for low-level offenses is not the best way to prevent future harm and actually contributes to a cycle of incarceration and trauma.”
“We need to take a holistic approach to crime prevention in our communities. I want to focus on how we can reform the sentencing guidelines here in Arizona and how we can hold prosecutors accountable for the actions and decisions that they make when they put people in prison for a long time. I want to focus on how we can help people when they come home from prison be successful in society, get a job, restore their right to vote, find safe housing and be able to rebuild their lives.”
“I would also fight for more oversight and assessment of the Department of Corrections’ budget. DOC receives more than $1 billion each year. This is more than we spend on higher education. I really want to see us divesting from the prison industrial complex and making sure that that money is going to education, housing, healthcare, and combating wealthy inequality.”
2) Reproductive Freedom
“This is going to be an incredibly important year for anybody who can become pregnant, because, as soon as June of this year, the Supreme Court could overturn Roe V. Wade. They very likely will. And when that happens, Arizona has a law already on the books which could put people in prison if they help somebody get an abortion or if they are the doctor in the situation that that is providing abortion care. This could criminalize people who might drive a friend to their health care appointment. It could criminalize people who help a friend pay for abortion care.”
“It is incredibly important that we elect candidates who will strongly protect the right to abortion care and other reproductive health services. I support overturning that Arizona law.”
“I also support investing in resources that will help people who do want to become parents have children and be able to raise them in safe and healthy environments. It’s really important that we’re looking at expanding healthcare, expanding child care access, expanding birth control access, and combating the rate at which women die during childbirth, which is a tragedy that disproportionately impacts Black women.”
3) Investing in Public Education
“Republican legislators have led an all-out assault on public schools and teachers for many, many years.”
“I have been a volunteer with the Invest in Education Ballot Initiative. I am a product of Arizona public schools. We have seen Republicans really take this pandemic and try to further their goal of privatizing education and gutting public schools entirely. , I will be constantly advocating for more funding for our schools. I will be fighting against any expansion to the voucher programs which take public funding away from our schools and our teachers. I will fight for teachers’ rights to negotiate a better salary, better benefits and the right to form and join unions. I will work to pass legislation that reduces class sizes and ensures there are more counselors in our public schools with manageable caseloads.”
4) Affordable Housing
“You talk to anybody here in my district and across the Valley and they will tell you that their housing costs are skyrocketing. Whether you are renting an apartment, renting a house or trying to buy a home, it is becoming nearly impossible to find housing that fits in our budgets.”
“This is unacceptable. One of the reasons why this is happening is because Arizona has a law which is a preemptive law. That when the state government stops local leaders from taking action on issues that impact their communities. In the case of ARS 33-1329, the state prevents local governments from putting a rent cap in effect. The Mayor of Tucson Regina Romero has said that this has tied city officials’ hands when it comes to rent control and that they really struggle to look for solutions because of this preemption law.”
“I support overturning that law. I support looking at ways that we could prohibit landlords from raising rent over a certain percent while accounting for changes in the cost of living. I support building more housing in a sustainable and just way that ensures that people can actually afford their rent.”
Do you support Universal Pre-K
“I absolutely support Universal Pre-K. I think it is a no-brainer to give our three and four-year-olds the knowledge and the skills that they need to go into kindergarten successfully. It will put them on a positive trajectory.”
“I really want to see affordable and accessible childcare, especially here in Maryvale.”
“It can be difficult to find childcare. For many people, it’s out of reach when it comes to just how expensive it is. The state actually needs to be giving subsidies to childcare providers. That’s what I support so that people can better afford it. Childcare shouldn’t be a luxury because in this day and age, so many families have two working parents. Making childcare affordable and accessible to all will have great positive benefits for our community and our economy overall.”
Do you support the expansion of clean energy options in sustainability programs?
“It’s just common sense here in Arizona to invest in solar power in such a sunny state. I talked to a voter the other day in my district who asked “How can we make solar panels more affordable? Because I would really like them, but they’re just too expensive!”
“That is an incredibly important point. We need to look at how to make solar power a more accessible and popular thing for people to get and push big industries and corporations to make the switch.
“I support a just transition away from fossil fuels. What I mean by that is for people who are currently working in fossil fuel industries, to be able to make a transition into a clean energy job where they receive training, where they receive accommodations that they might need to make a mid-life career jump like that.”
“If we don’t get this together and if we don’t get a plan into place for the future of our climate, we all are going to see the impact much sooner than we want. I know for my nieces and my nephew, I do not want to see them growing up in a world where they are facing catastrophic climate change.
We need to be the adults in the room and find a solution.”
4) Is there anything that mentioned the first three questions that you would like the readers to know about you or your campaign?
“I went to ASU to be a reporter and some of my very first assignments were to go to the State Capitol and report on the legislation that was being passed. That’s really where I started to see the problems in my school classrooms, the cruelty of Sheriff Joe, wealth inequality, all of these problems were happening because of decisions being made at the State Capitol.
I went into journalism to try to shine a light on what was taking place. I soon realized that I couldn’t just report on these issues. I needed to be doing something about it. So that’s when I made the switch from journalism to advocacy.”
“My skills as a journalist really helped me to listen to all different sides of viewpoints, to dig deep into nuanced issues and to bring differing opinions to the table. Those skills will help me build consensus among Republicans and Democrats and be able to work toward real results. I’m somebody who is willing to come to the table with an open heart and open ear.”
“I want the community to know that I want them at the table too. I will always have an open door. I will be very accessible to the community where they can call me on my cell phone, anytime to talk about legislation because our democratic process is closed off to the public in many ways. The public can’t even give remote testimony right now during a pandemic.”
“Those are the kinds of things that I think hinder the democratic process. And I want to work to make this process more accessible and open to the public.”
Please click on the below social media sites to learn more about Analise Ortiz and her candidacy for the Arizona State House in the new Legislative District 24.
https://www.facebook.com/OrtizforArizona
https://www.instagram.com/analiseortizforarizona/
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