AZ Government

It is time to follow the Arizona State Constitution and make University and College Education as “Free as Possible.”

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Article 11 of the State Constitution of Arizona deals with public education. Section six concerns higher education at the state’s public universities. It states “instruction” at state universities “shall (not should) be as free as possible.” Well, according to a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Arizona “Public Servants” (Republicans) in … Read more

Arizona Capitol

Why I Voted to Raise the #AZLeg Per Diem

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[On Monday, May 27, the Arizona Legislature voted to raise the per diem compensation. This is my floor speech to explain my vote.] When I decided to run for office in January 2016, I stepped down as managing editor of the American Journal of Medicine and became social media editor. With this step, I took … Read more

Kate Gallego is the Mayor-Elect of the fifth largest city in the United States.

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A 17-month campaign to become the next Mayor of Phoenix ended with a decisive runoff victory for former Phoenix Councilmember, now Mayor-Elect Kate Gallego. With her opponent former Phoenix Councilmember Daniel Valenzuela conceding defeat, Mayor-Elect Gallego will formally succeed Representative Greg Stanton who resigned to run for Congress last year. A 37-year-old New Mexico native, a graduate of Wharton and … Read more

Doug Ducey the man-basher?

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

In an otherwise unremarkable (for a conservative Republican governor in the pocket of Koch Industries) State of the State speech on Monday, Governor Doug Ducey said a few remarkable things. One of which was a (good, and long overdue) proposal to create a task force to address thousands of untested rape kits in Maricopa County. He has assigned Sen. Katie Hobbs, a long-time advocate for violence victims and children, to it. So far so good. (In an interesting side note, lobbyist Chris Herstam pointed out on KJZZ to host Steve Goldstein after the speech that the Governor’s announcement appeared to be a dig at Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was seated in the audience and whose office had failed to follow up on rape investigations. If you recall, Arpaio endorsed Ducey over several challengers eager for his blessing in the 2014 primary election.)

But then he said this other thing that sent ripples through social media. He announced that he had directed the state’s Department of Economic Security to start publishing the names and photos of “deadbeat dads” online. Whatever one thinks of the ethics and effectiveness of such public shaming campaigns, the likelihood of this one producing an appreciable stream of revenue to struggling single mothers is probably low.

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