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

Destroying the filibuster may seem like a quick fix to pass legislation now, but as power shifts across parties and leadership, it will ultimately be counterproductive and lead to unhealthy and constant reversal of policies.

Last week, Salt River Project announced that it plans to spend nearly $1 billion to add 16 new natural gas units to its powerplant in Coolidge, one of the largest fossil fuel investments by a utility in recent memory. I served on the SRP board from 2016-2020, and this decision stunned me. It is wrong-headed, unnecessary, and out of step with where responsible electric utilities are moving in this country.

Over the past five years, Arizona has been capitalizing on a lot of “ups” — fix up, patch up, and catch up, and we have made some significant progress to build out our infrastructure systems.

It has been estimated the addition of sports betting alone may generate tens of millions of dollars in added revenue for the state of Arizona, benefiting K-12 schools, community programs, public safety, tourism and other services enjoyed by all Arizonans.

The new table games have already been very desired by our guests and like sports betting, we are looking forward to the additional jobs and tourism, as well as increased opportunities to support the community these games will bring.

Arizona can’t let the child care crisis go on any longer. We need Congress to support our communities and invest in our children, families, and child care providers.

Having a place to sleep at night should not hinge on petty distinctions in the law. A person’s home is her castle, even when it’s a trailer.

When it comes to “help,” military members and veterans are often quick to offer it but slow to ask for it. So, to my fellow vets: time to do a buddy check.

Congress has a host of pressing issues on its plate right now, including rising Covid cases, economic recovery, growing political tensions, and racial equality — not to mention the literally life-threatening climate crisis. Spending valuable legislative energy attacking companies that have brought convenience, safety, and economic growth to our nation is ill-advised and needs to stop.

We cannot afford to let the Biden Administration turn Phoenix, now the country’s fifth-largest city, into San Francisco, where defecating on the sidewalk is commonplace and where groups of criminals routinely rob retail stores in plain sight because the police are defunded, and prosecutors are too weak on crime to enforce the law.