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Medicaid plan will bring affordable health care to the uninsured
Our state faces compelling choices for deciding our future. Resolving the current legislative stalemate over Medicaid will determine whether hundreds of thousands will qualify for health coverage and our state budget can begin to return to an effective level.
New school bus law improves safety for all who ride
Every day, parents and guardians in Arizona entrust the vulnerable members of their families to the drivers, operators and supervisors of school buses.
Medicaid expansion could help end unnecessary mental health suffering
It’s no secret. Millions of Americans struggle with mental health issues. They’re ordinary people who make extraordinary contributions, each in their own, unique way.
Time to reshape our country’s spending priorities
I was surprised to learn from the Friends Committee on National Legislation that 37 cents of every dollar we pay in federal income taxes goes to pay for current and past wars. At the same time, education, diplomacy, and help to the nearly 100 million people living in poverty in this country get only pennies on every dollar.
When it comes to AHCCCS expansion, consider the Golden Rule
Byron Schlomach’s recent editorial, “Standing on principle can be costly,” challenges lawmakers to stand up for a “principle” when making a choice about Medicaid expansion. He describes exaggerated worst case scenarios that fail to acknowledge the certain bleak reality that will occur if the Legislature does nothing to restore Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) coverag[...]
Opposition to Medicaid expansion is real
Since January, many of us at the state Capitol have been trying to determine a common-sense way to approach reliable health care for our neediest citizens. It is clear that a full expansion of our Medicaid program to 133 percent above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will add 400,000 patients or more to an already overloaded system. After carefully studying this complex issue, I have determined the[...]
Fixing the Funding Gap for a Better Arizona
Scott Mussi’s and Serena Unrein’s guest opinion titled “HB2646 is risky business for taxpayers” published April 16 is factually wrong and improperly suggestive on so many points, it begs a response.
We need a sunrise, not sunset, for energy choice in Arizona
Recently I spoke out in support of a critical effort underway in Arizona: keeping the state’s rooftop solar industry alive. Like school choice and health care choice, solar choice should be a core part of the Arizona agenda, and my party’s message. Unfortunately, utility monopolies in Arizona are trying to limit solar energy choice because more energy independence for Arizonans means smaller u[...]
Arizona moves in the right direction with passage of synthetic drug law
A little more than two weeks ago, Arizona joined the ranks of more than 41 states that have successfully passed urgent measures to combat an epidemic that is shattering families, plaguing law enforcement and killing more of our citizens each day. For Arizonans, the signing of HB2327 serves as a critical tool aimed at attacking the production and use of so-called “designer” drugs commonly refer[...]
Tax simplification should not hurt cities
The East Valley Partnership recognizes the need to streamline and improve our state’s tax system. That is why we support the major tenets of Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to reform Arizona’s Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) that is currently burdensome for businesses and puts local merchants at a disadvantage to out-of-state Internet retailers.
Child safety in Legislature’s hands with fiscal 2014 budget vote
The 2013 legislative session began with a unanimous vote in the House and the Senate to appropriate emergency funding for additional Child Protective Services staff. With that vote, lawmakers affirmed child safety as a top priority and recognized that the dramatic growth in the number of reports of child abuse and neglect and the number of children living in foster care demand increased capacity [...]
Arizona’s online public schools deserve equal funding
Fairness is among the first lessons we teach our children. Wait your turn, share your toys, obey the rules. So why is this value absent when it comes to funding children’s public education? I can’t fully answer that question. Neither can the thousands of parents like me whose children attend Arizona’s virtual public charter schools. Though our children are public school students under Arizon[...]
