Rep. Pam Powers Hannley on ballot propositions

10 Props in 14 Minutes: What You Need to Know About Arizona’s Ballot Propositions (video)

Election Day, Nov. 8, is fast approaching. Signs are popping up on street corners, in front yards and on vehicles around town. Social media is abuzz with clever memes and video pop-ups to snag your attention and sway your vote. Traditional TV advertising is carpet-bombing living rooms across the nation with negative messages fueled by special interest groups, billionaires, and dark money. This tsunami of mixed messages from random sources with questionable credentials leaves many voters overwhelmed and wondering which messages are true.

National Infrastructure Bank

Podcast: National Infrastructure Bank Would Rebuild US, Create Jobs & Restore Global Competitiveness

In our history, beginning with President George Washington and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the US has created four National Infrastructure Banks (NIB). Under Presidents Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, National Infrastructure Banks built and upgraded infrastructure across the country from roads, damns and bridges to health clinics, schools and the national parks; provided productive work and good pay for thousands if not millions of Americans; increased production and manufacturing capacity nationwide; and created economic vitality.

Known as a “Hamiltonian Bank” or “The American System,” a federal infrastructure bank is a proven way not only to build massive public works projects and put people to work, it is a proven way to jumpstart the economy during or after a major national crisis — like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Great Depression … or the COVID19 pandemic.

When the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created, 90% of rural America was living in the dark. The REA, under Roosevelt’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation, electrified rural America and, with that, increased commerce, the standard of living and wealth in those areas. Today, much rural America is “in the dark” when it comes to reliable Internet. The next National Infrastructure Bank could bring broadband to rural America. That is just one example of how big public projects can solve big public problems and create wealth and stability in parts of the country that have lacked resources and investment.

It’s time for a fifth National Infrastructure Bank in the United States. Across the globe, countries are using The American System to build massive nationwide and sometimes international/regional infrastructure projects. We invented this financial system. Why aren’t we using it?

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Phoenix

What Did the Arizona Legislature Do in the First 100 Days of 2022? (video)

The Arizona Legislature has a 100 day target for the length of each session. With more than 1000 bills proposed and more than 300 signed into law each year, the Legislature rarely finishes in 100 days.

April 19, 2022 is day 100 for this year. We are lurching slowly toward a budget, with more than 100 bills waiting to be heard and a few large projects — like education funding, the proposed Water Authority, and a potential “repeal and replace” revival of the Flat Tax — hanging in limbo. As I write this note, it is  Wednesday, April 13, and the Arizona House is temporarily adjourned until Monday, April 18. This is a repeat of last week, when we gaveled in for business on Monday, April 4 and promptly adjourned until Thursday.

NOBODY wants a repeat of 2021.

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Rep. Pam Powers Hannley

Rep. PPH Podcast: As Day 100 Approaches, #AZLeg Shifts to Culture War Issues

As the Arizona Legislature approaches the 100-day target for the end of session, the Republican Legislators have shifted their focus to passage of their party’s most extreme bills. Rep. Pam Powers Hannley’s latest podcast talks about the Culture War raging in the Legislature. The most recent episode features the 15 week abortion ban, school voucher expansion, homeless encampments and inequitable ambulance services.

Speaker Bowers Refuses to Let Pregnant Rep. Salman Work and Vote Safely at Home

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Covid surge does not exist for Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature and Governor’s office. Or else they are trying to silence the voices of people who fear Covid — and are the same ones who oppose their extreme right-wing agenda. Take Gov. Doug Ducey. He thinks it … Read more