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

Voting “No” on Proposition 127 won’t stop the expansion of renewable energy in Arizona, but it will protect our schools from more mandates that take money away from classrooms where our children are trying to learn. And, that makes Arizona a better place – for kids and for Arizona’s future.

Like all meaningful opportunities for economic development, we should pull out all the stops to keep the Navajo Generating Station online. We owe it to the Navajo and Hopi people, and we owe it to ourselves to fight for our energy security, our economic strength and our rural communities.

When tax dollars pay for the building of a public highway, a state building, a city or county building, or buildings in a traditional school district, the property belongs to the public, not a private individual or company.

This is the most important election in our history. You don’t have to take my word for it. Our last president knows it’s true. So do something. Now.

Yes, the political fight of five years ago to restore and expand AHCCCS was brutal. But it was worth it.

Electric cars are undoubtedly coming, and a new electric age is on the horizon. Meeting this increased electricity demand will be no simple feat, though. America’s power grid will be pushed to the max. What’s needed is a balanced, diverse electricity mix that incorporates coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar in the most efficient means possible. To prepare for tomorrow’s challenges, it’s critical to start planning today.

Arizona is at a crossroads. Should we continue to build more costly prisons and fill them with low-level offenders? Or should we follow the lead of many other conservative states that reserve expensive prison beds for violent offenders, and direct the savings to programs that have been proven to reduce repeat offenses?

Having read Shalisa Arnold’s full-throated defense of legislator and charter operator Eddie Farnsworth and his Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools, I thought, “Huh. Ms. Arnold missed a few salient points.”

I strongly encourage the Mayor and Council to move forward to preserve South Central Corridor. It is the only decision that will preserve the will of the voters, not jeopardize the funding grant from the Federal Transportation Authority, and reinforce the value of light rail in Phoenix. Our leaders must stay the course and continue support for this important project. It is the only prudent course of action.

Arizona’s charter schools are indeed a success story for our state. Our leaders should be applauded for having the vision to carefully create a climate in which school choice benefits so many through specialized learning, improved test scores, and education options.