Republican – Legislative District 25 House

Phone: (480) 229-7237

Address: 2544 E Fairfield St , Mesa, AZ 85213

Age: 35. (07/04/78, San Vincente, El Salvador).

Arizona since: 1996

Occupation: Financial advisor/recruiter, New England Financial, since 2013; financial representative, COUNTRY Financial, 2006-13.

Marital: Married

Education: B.S., business administration, W.P. Carey School of Business ASU, 2005; M.B.A., project management, Jones Int’l University (online), 2011.

Political experience: Interim district chair, LD 25, June-Dec 2012; third vice chair, LD 19, 2009-12; president, AZ Latino Republican Assn, 2004-06; vice president, ALRA, since 2013; treasurer, ALRA, 2011-13; Bush/Cheney Victory Office volunteer coordinator, 2004-05; numerous state, legislative & municipal race support in every election cycle (last 20 years) such as Matt Salmon’s congressional race, Justin Pierce’s legislative & secretary of state race.

Interests: I am an avid reader, a knitting and crochet aficionado and I spend a large amount of my free time knitting blankets for Project Linus – a non-profit organization that engaged with crafters in local communities to provide homemade blankets to critically ill children. I also support a large number of charitable groups that work with abused and neglected animals.

Two biggest issues: The current tax treatment of businesses: We need to ensure Arizona is an attractive option for those businesses looking to expand or relocate to a new state but also support those entities who already call Arizona their home. We should do everything in our power to help the business sector expand and grow and question current or new legislation that would inflict undue harm and/or create useless administrative ‘hoops’ for these businesses to jump through. The budget: Our state continues to face deficits and it appears that we will for a number of years ahead. As legislators, we need to ensure we are not just passing the ‘buck’ to the next generation. I believe we need strong leadership and resolve to take responsibility for all of the actions and decisions that created this problem and then make a commitment to solve this once and for all.

Budget priorities: Taxes: The Legislature needs to ensure that our tax policy and approach does not unfairly harm businesses nor stall the economic growth of the state. Education funding: We need to continue to take a hard look at whether or not we have funded our educational system properly and whether those funds assigned are being used in a manner that can demonstrate an improvement in outcomes. State debt: Legislators must ensure that state debt remains within the guidelines and constraints of the state Constitution.

Fiscal philosophy: For years balance sheet ‘gimmicks’ were used by our legislators to show us a ‘balanced budget’. We must maintain pressure on Legislators to create and operate from truly balanced budgets and pay off any and all hidden debts of the past. It is irresponsible to think we can force future generations to inherit debt at both the federal and state level. I would start by looking at existing expenditure programs to see if there are better ways to approach these costs and expenditures and/or see if all existing expenses are still necessary to the state operations budget. Second I would review all federal expenditures that add additional pressure to the budget and review any options there to make appropriate changes. From that point I would then revisit all reform ideas that were identified over the last three years.

Common Core: I believe the ongoing war over Common Core is taking our eyes away from the main issue facing us, which is, whether or not Arizonans believe we are really educating our children to best of the state’s ability. ‘How’ we solve this is important – but so is the actions that caused us to arrive at this point.
Higher standards, in and of itself ‘sounds’ like an issue that any and all of us should support, however, after much personal research I would challenge that with further review we will likely find that these external ‘standards’ are in reality really not that high at all. We need to change our focus. I think we should point to teaching our children reading comprehension, critical thinking and focus on core subjects such as math and science with end goals of subject matter comprehension instead of the sole objective of passing a standardized test.

Gifts to elected officials: I believe that as long as all elected officials follow the rules as specified for transparency, and that if the rules already on the books are enforced, this issue would be reasonably addressed with the tools already available to us.

Transparency in government: I’m all for transparency and community knowledge of all of the actions of their government. I believe the average citizen should have access to the same information that lawmakers have. This could in turn help invigorate the public to be more engaged in local, state and even federal politics.

Pro-life / pro-choice: I firmly believe that life begins at conception and that our unborn should be protected from those that would pray on the fears of expectant mothers or treat abortion as a form of contraception. I would just as strongly propose that this ‘devaluation of life’ does not start or end with the rights of the unborn but rather echoes throughout our communities. I believe there are others in need of our help who have equally lost their voice. Do we equally champion the needs of our mentally ill or those born with severe or limiting birth defects? What about our disabled, home bound, elderly or infirmed? It is time we bring focus back to the value of and protection for, all life and all Arizonans.

Public policy advice: Rep. Justin Pierce, Rep. Justin Olson, Rep. Steve Montenegro, Speaker Andy Tobin, Majority Leader David Gowan and Sen. Kelli Ward.

Dawson, Haydee

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