Protecting AZ Condo Homeowners

Out-of-state corporations have been systematically buying up condos in complexes in our community while allowing them to fall into disrepair so they can force current owners – many on fixed incomes – to sell their units at lowball prices. The least we can do during this affordable housing crisis is to make sure current AZ homeowners don’t get forced out of their homes with no affordable options. 

So, earlier this session I ran HB2780 to prevent these out-of-state corporations from being able to do this, but the bill was defeated by Republicans on the House Commerce Committee.

Going back to the drawing board, we narrowed the scope of the bill to focus on making sure that condo owners are at least properly compensated for their property when they are forced to sell. The new bill number is SB1198. 

I want to extend a big thank you to my seatmates Senator Steve Kaiser and Representative Justin Wilmeth for providing SB1198 as a vehicle to which we could attach a  “Strike-everything” amendment with our scaled-back version of HB2780.  Senator Kaiser became the sponsor, and the bill passed 9-1 out of House Commerce this last week.  We will need to make some further amendments to get it passed in a House floor vote – but in the meantime, score one for the little guy! Yay!

Our Assyrian New Year Bill Passes in the Senate

This past week, our Assyrian-American neighbors organized to help urge Senate President Petersen to let our bi-partisan Resolution HCR2037 be heard in that chamber – where it was unanimously passed just as it had been in the House the week before.

At the beginning of this session in January, I was honored to be asked by constituents to be the prime sponsor of this resolution. I then gathered signatures from 44 additional Democrats as well as Republicans in both the House and Senate to make this a bi-partisan effort.

This week our Assyrian-American neighbors are celebrating year 6773 in the ancient Assyrian culture.  It marks a new year,  and a fresh start at the beginning of spring, a new hope. I’m so proud to celebrate with them.

Monday’s Debate on Teacher Salaries

HB2800 came to the House floor for discussion by Committee of the Whole (COW) on Monday but has not yet been moved to what’s called Third Read where all House members actually vote on the bill.

As a longtime teacher, making significant new investments in teacher pay and public education is my top priority. But HB2800 is a trap that markets itself as a way to help our public school teachers while in reality, it would make their jobs even harder. It excludes many educators, requires teachers to list online every single resource they use in lessons, wastes millions of taxpayer dollars on additional reviews of the reviews ALREADY being done by the auditor general, and leaves districts in a financial hole leading to major teacher layoffs in an economic downturn.

Because of the many problems with this bill, I worked with other Teacher Caucus members (Rep Jennifer Pawlik, Rep Laura Terech, and Rep Nancy Gutierrez) and our policy advisors to offer an amendment that would fix some of the worst flaws to make HB2800 a solution, not a sound bite. Our amendment was defeated on a voice vote, as we expected. However, introducing the amendment did allow us to make important points on the House floor about the serious flaws in this bill.  Our amendment would have:

• Ensured districts could actually SPEND the funds we budget by including a permanent fix outlined in Rep Pawlik’s bill (HCR2010) to update the 1980-era Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL)
• Expanded the definition of the teacher to include all non-administrative educators as prescribed by the district board or charter school, and
• Ensured public schools have the budget flexibility to make the difficult decisions necessary if the legislature decides to once again cut funding to our public schools.

The sad truth, though is that because the sponsor and his fellow Republicans have prioritized universal ESA/vouchers to unaccountable private schools to the tune of going on $300 million this year alone, and a tax reduction for the wealthiest people, Arizona doesn’t have the money left to pay for a teacher pay increase that costs $400 Million this year and $700 million next.

As Save Our Schools Arizona points out this week, “Decades of tax cuts and 8 years of former Gov. Ducey’s failed policies have pushed our state to the brink of financial starvation. Per capita, Arizona has less than half of Florida’s budget, and less than one-third of Tennessee’s.”

The good news is that with Governor Katie Hobbs we finally DO have a State Executive who is committed to increasing teacher salaries and school funding in this year’s budget.  I share Gov Hobbs’ priorities to make significant increases in teacher salaries, and hope the sponsor of 2800 will join us in budget negotiations that will include

• SAVING $1.5 billion for taxpayers over 10 years by repealing last year’s universal expansion of ESA/vouchers so that we CAN better pay our teachers
• INVESTING in educator salaries and benefits so that we can pay teachers a living wage and compete with other states
• ONGOING funding for programs that school districts already run but aren’t funded for like full-day kindergarten, and the needs of special education students
• ONE-TIME FUNDING to repair school buildings so that students aren’t in classrooms with leaky roofs and broken AC systems.

Monday Evening with the Cub Scouts

Thank you so much to cubmaster Leslie Newell of Pack 323 for inviting me and City Councilwoman Deb Stark to come talk to the Cubs about government and our jobs. We joined them at Lookout Mountain Elementary – ad it was such fun!  We really appreciated the kids’ suggestions on how to make our state better – including by adding more parks and taking care of the homeless people.

Tuesday’s Floor Debate:  Sadly, the GOP is More Interested in Bathroom Bans than Saving Children’s Lives from Gun Violence

On Tuesday, Representative Jennifer Longdon and House Dems motioned to bring her firearms safe storage bill, “Christian’s Law” to the House Floor for a vote. AS Rep Longdon explained, it’s the very least we can do to help save children’s lives. Republicans, however, blocked the effort to at long last pass at least one common-sense gun violence prevention measure amid the public health crisis that is taking lives every day. EJ Montini got it right in his opinion piece, “Arizona’s Firearms Obsessed Republican Lawmakers Place a Ban on Saving Lives”. 

Longdon’s House Bill 2192 was renamed in honor of Christian Petillo of Gilbert who at the age of 15 was accidentally shot and killed with an unsecured firearm at a sleepover.  Tuesday would have been his 17th birthday.

The bill simply says that guns stored at home, when not on your person or in use, be stored safely in a securely locked box, or be equipped with a key or combination lock.

Also, Rep Laura Terech’s school safety bill HB2075 to ensure that school blueprints are exempt from public records has been blocked by Republican leadership, despite bipartisan support. The shooter who killed six people at a Nashville school last week had school blueprints in their possession.

Tuesday’s Attack on Trans Students

Thank you to all the young people who attended last Tuesday’s Education Committee meeting to support their transgender classmates as they and others testified against SB1040, Kavanaugh’s anti-trans school bathroom bill. It makes life even harder for vulnerable young people who are more prone to suicide than others. But also, Equality Arizona Director Jeanne Woodbury pointed out the failure of policies like this around the country and how it makes the Arizona legislature seem mean and out of touch.  As one constituent wrote to me,“There is no problem for this bill to solve.  Trans people are not causing problems in restrooms… We just have bodily functions like everyone else.  Our existence in a restroom is no more an invasion of others’ privacy than is anyone else in that space.  We just need to pee and want to maintain some dignity about it.  This is a mean-spirited bill meant to hurt innocent people.”

I believe that every student deserves respect and caring. That’s why I voted NO on this bill.  Unfortunately, SB1040 was passed out of committee along party lines.

Tuesday Lunch with Pharmacy Students

It was great to meet at lunch Tuesday with the Arizona Pharmacy Association and pharmacy students like Jasmina, an LD2 constituent and 2nd-year student. She plans to become a specialist in oncology.

Wednesday’s Debate on Republican Bill Inserting Politicians Into Already Heartbreaking Situations

Representatives Athena Salman and Representative Dr. Amish Shah discuss SB1600 cruel “born alive” measure from Republicans. Dr. Shah, an emergency room physician spelled out how the bill would make criminals out of medical professionals if in their judgment they “code” a stillborn infant without CPR.  He said, “We don’t want to criminalize what is a harrowing situation, and what is a subjective situation.”

It’s unethical and “borders on torture” for state lawmakers to insert themselves into a doctor-patient relationship that mandates CPR when a fetus has no chance of survival, threatening criminal prosecution for doctors and anyone in the room during this heartbreaking time for mothers and families.

Friday I Got to Visit Two Paradise Valley Schools

My first stop was at the wonderful Hidden Hills Elementary School. In addition to visiting the nurturing special needs and also 5th-grade classrooms, the 3rd-graderss gave me a tour of their flourishing garden. There were giant sunflowers, snapdragons, cauliflowers, carrots, and more.  Kudos to their wonderful teachers Ms. Gerard and Ms. Pestka. Thank you also to Principal Drew Davis, Assistant Superintendent Steve Jeras, and to Sarah Hackett from District Public Relations

The first stop was a kindergarten class where the teacher lets you know you’re welcome right from the front door.

Bobby was quick to point out that the Cactus View jackrabbits have HOPS, meaning they Have respect, Outstanding character because they are kind, take Personal responsibility, and put Safety first.
Since STEM learning is a top priority in the PV district, every student takes a STEM class.

Thank you so much to Bobby and the whole Cactus View family for making me feel so welcome!

Join Us at Our next Meeting on April 19

Saturday Was the Legislative District (LD) 2 Food Drive!

Thank you to Chris Gehlker for organizing our community food drive. All donations we collected from the community go to Paradise Valley Community Food Bank. They not only feed hungry neighbors but also deliver food to children in Title 1 schools so they have groceries on the weekend.

Didn’t get a chance to donate?  You can always bring your non-perishable food and pet food to our monthly LD2 Dems meeting. They’re held on the third Wednesday of every month.  The next one is on April 19 at 6:30 pm. Get details here.