Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Track to Arizona Politics

The American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) recent report, “Drug Sentencing in Arizona: A Prescription for Failure,” relies upon faulty analysis and inadequate research to inaccurately depict Arizona as an incarceration-first state, and blames our sentencing statutes for our substance abuse problems. Arizona’s sentencing statutes are not responsible for our substance abuse problems. People abusing drugs, both prescription and illicit, are the real reason for our substance abuse problems.

This is an open letter to Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria. My name is Jeff Fortney. I live in Cave Creek. Since 2004 I have been a public school teacher, teaching students to help them progress toward becoming good members of our Arizona society.

A recent piece criticized my being hired to update a report on the Arizona prison system (Ben Giles, "Controversial researcher hired to update prison population study," August 11). I am indeed best known for my work on gun control. But the report, produced by the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council (APAAC), has nothing to do with gun control.

Elections in Arizona from now until 2018 midterms must become referendums on education funding, not on the president. Nearly every candidate in Arizona running for office publishes their stance on education on their website, and multiple organizations have stated goals and deep war chests to push candidates and the electorate in one direction or the other on this very issue.

Dear Editor: August 24 is the deadline for U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to give his recommendations to President Trump on whether 27 of our existing national monuments should be opened to drilling, mining and other development. Following an executive ...

Recent polls indicate that 70-80 percent of Americans support cornerstones of the Affordable Care Act, including incentivizing states to expand Medicaid while concurrently assisting low- and moderate-income people in obtaining affordable health coverage, and prohibiting insurers from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a critical component to Arizona’s economic success over the last nearly 25 years. The deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico has allowed businesses to boom and fueled tremendous job growth.

Let’s drop the attempts to penalize people over 50 years of age for being older or sicker. It’s not fair to charge them disproportionately more for coverage just because of their age. And it’s not fair – or right – to scale back or eliminate the tax credits and subsidies that help low-income older Americans afford health insurance.

Moving forward, we hope to see states take a leadership role in reforming our nation’s health care. Bipartisan efforts by the nation’s governors give us hope that the lessons states have learned regarding Medicaid can be applied to the national debate.

Many political pundits have suggested that after last week’s ill-fated vote, the health care debate in the United States is over. We do not believe that this is the case.