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

Arizona’s economy is just starting to come back from a devastating spring and summer due to the pandemic shutdowns. The last thing we should do is pump the breaks on the recovery by putting in place the largest permanent tax increase in state history.

Clean energy improves the air we breathe, supports healthy communities and helps reduce global warming pollution that has led to prolonged drought and extreme temperatures in the West.

We can help our economy to recover and public education to improve. But Proposition 208 is not the way to do it. Our state will be much better, as a whole, if it rejects the economic consequences of this measure in favor of a more measured approach that does right by our children, small businesses and employees, rather than pit them against each other.

Wildfires are raging again as millions of acres across the American West succumb to a wave of devastating infernos. Our forests are literally dying for a solution.

The Arizona Nurses Association urges the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and other local officials to keep mask orders in place.

A just and sustainable energy transition requires cooperation. Federal, state, and local governments must partner with the utility companies that manage our electric grid and the business community that helps drive investment and innovation.

We should expect a partisan battle over the election. We should expect Trump to fight hard in the courts. We should expect tense moments. Surprises. Disappointments. Shocks. But, ultimately, Trump will not defy a court order and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

I know that everyone is overwhelmed by the state of the world at the moment. Everyone is busy navigating the uncertain economic climate, leading through crisis, or supporting communities in need. However, in the coming weeks, I urge Arizonans to exercise their rights, conduct thorough candidate and issue research, ensure they are registered to vote and join me in proudly voting on November 3.

The City Council should be solely focused on policy that helps small businesses stay viable and recover after the coronavirus pandemic. I hope our local lawmakers, that we all elected, take time to consider all the consequences of banning flavored tobacco products, including menthol, before implementing it into law.

As millennials, we cannot expect other individuals to bear our personal and financial burdens. We should celebrate legal actions like the Arizona Multihousing Association’s in the fight to honor individual rights. After all, these liberties are the foundations on which our nation was built.