Brian Radford For Arizona

Guaranteeing our water supply for generations to come means reducing use where we can, and finding ways to rebuild our supply. We can do so by using grants and tax rebates to enable our farmers to invest in water-use reduction technologies and replace high-use crops with low use crops. We also need to protect the water rights of our rural communities by banning the sale of rural water rights to the highest bidder. Finally, we should reward best practices on an individual level, such as water recapture, by providing tax rebates to Arizonans who do their part.

The cost of healthcare in Arizona is a difficult problem to solve, but not impossible. We can lower the cost of care by enacting laws requiring price transparency for fee-for-service providers. Furthermore, by creating a buy-in option for AHCCCS, families who can’t afford insurance will have an option to gain coverage at a price they can pay, and private insurers will have to offer more competitive pricing for coverage in order to compete. Finally, we should expand and fund access to long term care and services for seniors who are in need.

We need to invest in our schools at a rate that is in line with the national average. This includes guaranteeing funding for increasing teacher salaries, professional development for teachers, providing adequate resources for students with disabilities, and ensuring that every school has professional career and mental health counselors onsite. Prioritizing public education investments will not only improve our children’s futures, but will create better outcomes for our economy by ensuring we have an educated workforce and are enticing new businesses to set up shop in Arizona.

Ensuring that our veterans are able to build lives for themselves and their families when returning home should be a top priority at the legislature. This means investing in and expanding housing programs targeted towards veterans, creating work placement and training programs, and providing funding for community health centers serving current and former service members. Furthermore, we should ensure the economic security for families of active duty service members by increasing funding available to the assistance programs that serve them.