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

Arizonans can all agree: it should be easy to vote but hard to cheat.

I urge my Republican colleagues in the Legislature to stand with me in upholding the basic Republican principals of law, order, and public safety, and oppose this misguided attempt to defund local police and fire services.

I hope that the Legislature is actively participating in the legal effort to overturn the new “education tax.” As an attorney, it seems pretty clear to me that only the Legislature – accountable to the voters – has the right to raise taxes on any sub-set of taxpayers. If not, then the public at large can make this decision based on the whims of the moment. Why not vote for an initiative to assess an extra tax on, say, only registered Democrats or only Republicans, or on people of a certain ethnicity? Or on reporters?

As lawmakers debate a tax package to aid in Arizona’s continued economic recovery from the pandemic and to position our state for increased growth, lowering the assessment ratio on commercial property is a policy change that would meaningfully enhance our ability to attract private investment and job creators.

Right now, politicians in Arizona are intent on criminalizing abortion care in cases like ours. They are pushing a bill, SB1457, that makes it a crime to provide an abortion due to a “genetic abnormality.” This bill is a political stunt meant to stigmatize abortion care but it will have very real effects on people and their families.

People are eager to get back to work, and to travel. It’s safe to say most of us are eager to get out of the house. The new normal seems to be changing month to month. It’s my hope that a simple mobile app will help usher in a post Covid normalcy now and in the future.

We are counting on Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to do the right thing and put Arizona’s interests over politics and loyalty to Biden and Majority Leader Schumer.

All of this brings me to the recent vote on SB1452, legislation that would provide ESAs to low-income families, which will allow them to use their tax dollars to provide the best education for their children. Even though Democrats like myself (and the 73-75% of Democrats surveyed that support school choice and ESAs for low-income kids), not one Democrat has yet to vote for this needed legislation.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, strives to strengthen union leverage and labor density. However, it does so at the expense of Arizona’s businesses, workers and economy. If ...

We implore you to continue to follow CDC guidelines, mask-up in public places and physically distance. If you are fully vaccinated and in a small group of others who have also been fully vaccinated, that is when you can take off your mask and enjoy each other’s smiles. Until we hit the herd immunity milestone, please continue to take the precautions that matter -- lives and livelihoods still depend on it.