Elections 2014 Just another Arizona Capitol Times Election Coverage site
Democrat – Legislative District 18 Senate
Phone: (480) 963-1848
Email: hydrick@aol.com
Website: www.Hydrick2014
Facebook: Janie Hydrick
Twitter: @hydrickforaz
Address: 1370 N Madrid Ln , Chandler, AZ 85226
Age: 69. (02/23/45, Lima, Peru).
Arizona since: 1954
Occupation: Adjunct faculty, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, since 1990; teacher, Mesa Public Schools; adjunct faculty, Chandler-Gilbert Community College; instructor, Computers in Education, ASU; computer lab director, College of Education, ASU; research and teacher, Computer Institute (Phoenix); senior instructor and director of curriculum development, Phoenix Job Corps Center; teacher, Tucson Unified School District; Romper Room teacher for western states, KGUN-TV (Tucson).
Marital: Married
Children: 2
Education: Aeronautical science, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, 2006; Ph.D., communication arts, ASU, 1993; M.A., education, ASU, 1980; reality therapy, Reality Therapy Institute (Santa Monica), 1977; B.A., elementary education, UofA, 1967.
Political experience: Since I became old enough to vote, I have worked on many campaigns – Democratic, Republican, and nonpartisan – from local school board elections to presidential elections. The degree of my involvement with each has varied greatly, but I believe that voters should be active in electing candidates who reflect their values.
Interests: My primary interest is in being involved with my 21-month-old grandson’s life and in ensuring that our community and state will have for him the highest quality education system, preschool through university; a promising job market, a robust economy, and a healthy and beautiful environment to live in and enjoy. That’s a full-time interest and one of the main reasons I decided to run for office. My hobbies are reading, travel, music, and TaeKwonDo (I am a black belt).
Two biggest issues: The two biggest issues facing Arizona’s future are a stalled economy and a grossly underfunded education system. A recent report states that there are only five states whose economic recoveries have been slower than Arizona’s. Additionally, Arizona has made the deepest cuts in the country to public education and is currently last in per-pupil spending. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the best way to ensure both economic prosperity and job creation is to invest in education. The simple message: “If you educate them, jobs will come.” With jobs and an educated workforce will come a strong state economy.
Budget priorities: Arizona needs to turn away from backdoor giveaways and corporate bailouts and instead strengthen Arizona and create jobs by investing in public education and providing support to small and local business. These priorities will pay off in the short and long terms. We should invest in the most vulnerable in our society – children – by providing them with education, health care, and protection so that they can grow up to be productive members of society. The Arizona Legislature has a responsibility to pass a balanced budget that keeps government functioning efficiently, not a budget balanced with gimmicks and special interests.
Fiscal philosophy: My fiscal philosophy is one that supports government budgets that benefit Arizona’s workers and families. As taxpayers, workers and families are the ones who make government services possible, and they are the ones who should benefit most from them. Investing in the people of Arizona through education, health care, and environmental protection will reap benefits to everyone in the short term as well as the long term. When we siphon our investments from people to corporations and special interests, then everyone and everything – people, business, and Arizona’s future – are negatively impacted in the short term and in the long term.
Common Core: With the growing complexity of the world and increasing demands of a 21st-century workforce, students should graduate from high school fully prepared for college and careers. They must have studied a rigorous and broad curriculum, grounded in the core academic disciplines, yet including subjects that comprise a well-rounded education. From high-quality early education and strong, foundational standards in elementary school to rigorous career and technical education programs and college completion goals, college and career readiness is the unifying agenda across P-20 education. Yet the keys to success are professional educators with the resources to connect students, standards, and curriculum.
Gifts to elected officials: I support a total ban on gifts. Legislators are elected by their constituents – the voters in their district – and should not be subject to the influence that comes from gifts. The purpose of gifts, however small or large, is to influence voting, and legislators should be voting on issues based on the merits of the legislation and the wishes of their constituents. Voters deserve to know that their voices cannot be negated by gifts, that each voice is as valuable as the next, and that the addition of a gift does not increase the value of any single voice.
Transparency in government: Conflicts of interest should be clear, and legislators who would derive a direct financial benefit from legislation should recuse themselves. Voters are marginalized and their voices silenced when there is a lack of transparency, lack of accountability to constituents, and a widespread use of parliamentary tricks to conduct business in the state Legislature. Public notice to the community should be made available via media such as newspapers that are accessible to all and not simply technology, for example, that some may not be able to access.
Pro-life / pro-choice: The decision to have an abortion is a complex one that takes into account health and safety issues as well as the psychological impact on the mother and others who would be affected by the decision. It is not a decision that should be made lightly, yet once made, the mother should have access to quality health care. It is a decision that should be made by the mother in consultation with her doctor, her family, and her spiritual advisor.
Public policy advice: I turn for advice to the individuals and organizations with vested interests in the issue. Sometimes they are at odds with each other, yet they will have researched the issue, made that research available to me, and they will have considered a wide range of consequences, both positive and negative. Most importantly, I am accountable to my constituency in LD18. They will be impacted in some way by every public policy decision, so I must make every effort possible to gain constituents’ insight and opinion regarding their wishes as well as the impact my decision would have on their lives.
