In just a few weeks, the second session of the 54th Legislature and my fourth year in elected office will begin. In has been a jam-packed but productive interim with community events, tours, meetings at the capitol, and conferences on taxes, finance and public health. One of the more informative meetings I attended this fall … Read more
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) needs only one more state to ratify it before it can become an amendment to the US Constitution. Although State Senator Sandra Day O’Connor and Arizona State Rep. Sister Claire Dunn proposed ratification, Arizona is one of the laggard states that never ratified the ERA in the 1970s. Both Senator … Read more
One of the prevailing messages from the grassroots in 2018 was: no more tax giveaways until the schools are fully funded. Republicans didn’t get that message. They also didn’t get the Invest In Ed message that we — the people– think the rich could pay more in taxes to help fund education. The Republican budget … Read more
Although we had a short floor calendar on May 1, we had some rousing debates. The highlight was a two-hour debate on SB1085, association health plans. (Watch the action here, beginning at 19:32 min.) The Republicans have had three bills this year to lower healthcare insurance costs by encouraging people to leave the healthcare marketplace. … Read more
March is women’s history month, and March 8 was International Women’s Day. To honor one of Arizona’s sheros, Senator Victoria Steele and I decided to jointly pay tribute in the Arizona Senate and House to Sister Clare Dunn, a Democratic representative from Tucson and a teacher at Salpointe Catholic High School. Why focus on Sister … Read more