The ads really do write themselves in this case.
On March 18, Arizona Legislative District (LD) Eight Representative Brian Garcia posted the below social media video where he chastises MAGA Republican Legislators prioritizing attention to pigeons over consideration of legislation to give Arizonans Paid Family Leave.
In the video, he said:
“Today we had the Judiciary Committee, and wanted to break down the bad bills that we heard today. Today, I introduced an amendment to replace a bad bill with a bill that Arizonans have been asking for, which is paid family medical leave. A lot of our families are struggling, and for me, this is personal.
My dad was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in 2019. For our family, it was all hands on deck. And we know that other families like ours are struggling through this, too.
And so I proposed a strike everything amendment to a really bad bill, and to be able to really fight for an Arizona that we can afford. Unfortunately, the committee chair decided to roll us out procedurally and called the question without having any mention of paid family medical leave. However, I did get to say on the bill that died later regarding attacking pigeons and feeding pigeons, we spent 20 minutes on that where we spent less than a minute on talking about issues that Arizonans care about.
The majority chose to prioritize pigeons instead of your family. It is a direct reflection of our priorities and with that I vote no.”
Commenting on Representative Garcia’s post, House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos, who was furious this week over Republicans killing a housing affordability measure, refusing to hear his proposal on combatting AI price gouging, and their putting on the floor an anti reproductive freedom bill that would make 13 year old rape victims carry their baby to term, said:
“Republicans voted to kill Paid Family and Medical Leave. They voted against a new mom recovering from childbirth with no paycheck. Against a son caring for his dad after a stroke. Against a worker battling cancer who just needs time to heal without losing their job. Democrats will keep fighting for an Arizona We Can Afford.”
MAGA Republican insensitivity to the people’s needs and their warped sense of misplaced priorities, like talking about pigeons, giving unneeded tax cuts to billionaires, cutting food stamps for the poor, putting corporations over consumers and the environment, and anti-public education positions, blew up earlier today when Governor Katie Hobbs, Senator Priya Sundareshan, and House Leader De Los Santos blasted them for failing to negotiate in good faith over the state budget and the renewal of Proposition 123.
Voters need to pick the candidates that will make life affordable and expand the middle class, like giving paid family leave, over the ones that will give more time to discussing pigeons and allowing parents who enroll their children in private or home school programs unfettered access to the state treasury to buy condoms and lingerie.
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