Read AZ House Dem Leaders Reveal What’s Ahead in the 2026 Session now from Blog for Arizona for Politics from a Liberal Viewpoint

Join us for insight from Arizona Democrats’ Legislative Leadership going into the 2026 Arizona State Legislative session, presented by Democrats of Greater Tucson on Monday, January 5 at 6pm via Zoom.

We’ll be joined by Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos and Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Gutierrez of the Arizona House for this briefing. Please note carefully that this event begins at 6 pm to accommodate the Reps’ schedule at this busy time.

De Los Santos’ Policy Priorities

Oscar De Los Santos, who represents District 11 in Phoenix, has outlined several key legislative priorities for 2026:

Cost of Living and Utilities: He plans to prevent large utilities from passing data center and AI-related costs onto working families while addressing childcare affordability through increased state investment.
Public Education Funding: Following court rulings that Arizona unconstitutionally underfunds public schools, De Los Santos is prioritizing adequate school funding and pushing back against Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) vouchers, which he calls “a complete and total scam” with zero accountability.
Water Resources: He aims to protect Arizona’s water supply by introducing Rural Groundwater Management legislation and requiring state-land lessees to pay for groundwater use, building on efforts to prevent foreign corporations from depleting Arizona’s water resources.

Gutierrez’s Legislative Priorities

Nancy Gutierrez, a longtime educator representing District 18 in Tucson, was elected Assistant Leader of the House Democratic Caucus in November 2024. She is a passionate advocate for public education, developmental disability services, and healthcare access.

Public Education Funding and Accountability. Gutierrez has made chronic underfunding of Arizona’s public education system a central focus of her legislative work. She has been particularly vocal in opposing the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) voucher program, which lacks any accountability and costs taxpayers nearly $1 billion annually.
Developmental Disability Services Protection. In February 2025, Gutierrez introduced critical legislation to protect families accessing services through Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). This came in response to Republican proposals to slash DDD funding by 25 percent. “These families have higher costs for care than most. Every vulnerable family member has complex needs that meet the burden of institutionalization,” Gutierrez stated, emphasizing that these funds provide essential therapies, medical interventions, and vital home and community support.
Healthcare Access and Medicaid. Gutierrez has defended Medicaid funding against proposed cuts, arguing in June 2025 that cutting more than $100 million from the program would hurt Arizonans who rely on it. She questioned the logic of “preemptively giving up millions of federal funds in a drawdown to cut a program that Arizonans clearly need and want.”