Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

We believe transparency isn’t just a word. It’s a must for the state of Arizona when it comes to public safety results and the use of your tax dollars.

At The Pew Charitable Trusts, we base our policy recommendations on facts and data. Our analysis is rigorous. And we support dental therapy because the evidence is clear – it expands access to dental care.

I would say to those Arizona dentists who believe it won’t help their practices – don’t hire them. But don’t deprive your colleagues—especially those working in safety net clinics and rural communities—of the opportunity to improve their practices and the health of their patients.

Despite intensive efforts by lawmakers, health care providers, the criminal justice system and other stakeholders, Arizona appears to be losing the battle to stem the rising number of opioid overdose deaths.

Arizona has a long track record of successfully managing our state’s most precious resource: From the founding of the Salt River Valley Water User’s Association, to the historic Groundwater Management Act, to the formation of the Central Arizona Project.

While Arizona’s water managers disagree on solutions to conserve the state’s water supply, none are equivocating about the problem. With drought a chronic condition and a never-ending demand for water, the Colorado River seems to continually face an epic low point.

Dental care in the Grand Canyon State is ranked 30th in the nation in terms of dental care and oral health, according to the research website WalletHub. Arizonans spend an average of $103.80 a year per capita on dental costs. That’s in the bottom third of the country.

Dental therapists are a distraction. They solve nothing. Legislative efforts to bring this position to Arizona divert attention from the real issues and real solutions. They set us up to be the next Minnesota, scrambling a few years from now after we learn that Pew’s hollow promises only delayed the day of reckoning.

Ultimately, we will never achieve meaningful sentencing reform in Arizona with both sides bashing the other and making “straw dog” arguments based on false mischaracterization of the other’s positions. Instead, we must take baby steps and then measure results as they inform public safety, in much the same way that the recently released APAAC report undertook its detailed and valuable account of recidivism in all categories of offenses. Knowing which categories of offenders recidivate least often can suggest sentencing reductions that are plausible and realistic.

So, legislators, we fought hard to eliminate ballot harvesting fraud from the primary and general election process. Let’s insert the same honesty and integrity into the political party voting process.