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

Serving the people of CD8 is an honor and a privilege, and I am blessed to have the opportunity. I’m looking forward to two more years of working hard for our district, state, and nation. Thank you for your support, and may God continue to bless you and your family.

A federal judge in Texas (Judge Reed O’Connor) dealt a blow to the Affordable Care Act in December when he ruled in Texas v. Azar that the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety, including the implementation of market reforms (e.g. protections for folks with pre-existing conditions), the health insurance marketplaces, and the expansion of Medicaid.

Electric vehicles are the gift that keeps giving. Electric vehicles help cut consumer energy bills and boost the economy while protecting air quality and public health.

Arizona’s criminal justice system is not perfect. There is always room for improvement in any system, and I and other prosecutors remain willing to engage in productive discussions and initiatives to improve criminal justice system outcomes for crime victims, the public we serve, and defendants to reduce recidivism.

ERCOT (the power grid operator for most of Texas) is predicting a power shortage starting next summer. This is because they have relied on market signals to get new generation built and keep current plants open. This model is obviously not working.

The act of calling on David Stringer by the Prescott City Council to resign his elected seat in the Arizona House of Representatives was grossly disproportionate to the true facts of the matter, as well as far outside the council’s legitimate role and powers.

In the past year, there has been a movement in American business to grant certain familial leave, responding to the evolution in our society of companies responding to the basic needs of their employees. Arizona is a state made up largely of small businesses so it doesn’t have the leeway many large companies do. But at the end of the day, it’s about employee/employer loyalty and compassion.

While the criminal justice reform movement gains momentum across the country, Arizona remains on the outside looking in. Even as more conservative states with a tradition of harsh justice reduce prison populations through smart reforms that target the root causes of crime, Arizona persists in the failed policies of mass incarceration, wasting resources to imprison low-level offenders.

I tend to reason through my personal experiences using common sense, but I have learned as Will Rogers once said, “Common Sense ain’t so common.” If it doesn’t make common sense I usually don’t accept it as fact or the truth. Voting in Arizona just doesn’t make the common sense smell test.

The prosecution function has come a long way in the last two decades across the country and here in Maricopa County.