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“Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence, your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.”

-Michelle Obama’s moving speech ([link removed]) for her husband at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center


** Sunday Rundown
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What Happened During the Final Days of Session

I've spent four years at the Capitol, and while politics has never been a particularly gentle sport, what happened during the final days of this session was unlike anything I've experienced. And this isn't just my opinion. Multiple longtime staff, lobbyists, and people who have spent decades around the Capitol told me the same thing: they had never seen anything quite like it.

This Rundown is going to be a little different than usual because I hope this gives you a glimpse behind the curtain of both what happened and why.

Three weeks ago, I sat in a Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) meeting, which is responsible for overseeing our state agencies and boards. The topic that day was an audit request for the Department of Economic Security.

When I asked what prompted the audit, the answer traced back to a single story a legislator had heard about billing codes being changed 5-6 years ago.

Ok.

"How much would this audit cost?" I asked.

Between $500,000 and $600,000.

Ok.

DES is already undergoing a major technology transition, a federal audit, and a state audit. Requesting another half-million-dollar audit based on one uncorroborated story, while state resources are already stretched thin, struck me as a bit...wasteful.

During the discussion, my Democratic colleagues raised what seemed like an obvious point: if we're concerned about waste, fraud, and abuse, why aren't we auditing the ESA voucher program?

After all, that's a program approaching $1,000,000,000 a year in taxpayer spending and one that has generated repeated examples of fraudulent purchases, weak oversight, and accountability concerns.

The answer was clear. There was plenty of appetite to spend taxpayer dollars investigating a state agency based on a story someone heard. There was very little appetite to scrutinize the voucher program.

Fast forward a couple of weeks.

As the final hours of session approached, things began to unravel into chaos, political retribution, and arm-twisting that I have never seen before. And at the center of it all was a growing concern that Arizona voters might decide to place guardrails on the ESA program.

So what do you do when you have all the power and you don't like where public opinion is headed? You change the rules. And that is exactly what happened - the Republican leadership suspended all rules. Entire referrals were rewritten. Measures were pushed through an impromptu committee and onto the floor in the middle of the night.

The legislative Hail Mary came in the form of four constitutional referrals, thrown together in the closing hours of session. Some were drafted so hastily that significant questions remained about how they would actually function. For example, HCR2040 ([link removed]) is aimed at punishing public educators, but because the measure defines and restricts activities of "labor organizations" rather than a specific union, critics warn it could create uncertainty for police, firefighters, and other public employee associations that rely on similar representation structures.

Not only did this effort catch Democrats by surprise, but it also required extraordinary pressure campaigns within the majority party itself to secure the votes needed to move them forward.

This should concern every voter, regardless of party.

Constitutional referrals are not ordinary legislation. They can shape Arizona for decades. They deserve thoughtful debate, public transparency, and careful drafting.

Instead, we watched a flurry of referrals rushed through in the final hours of session targeting public education, vote-by-mail, workers' ability to organize, and future voters' ability to reform government programs.

What struck me most was the willingness to wrap these proposals in emotionally appealing stories that often had very little to do with what the measures were actually trying to accomplish.

Military families.

Children.

Election integrity.

Fairness.

Accountability.

But when I read the actual language, and spent hours debating these proposals on the House floor, the story being told often did not match the policy being advanced.

That crosses a line.

One referral in particular crystallized the entire situation for me.

In HCR2048 ([link removed]) , the public-facing argument was about protecting military families from future voucher reforms. Sounds nice, right? Few people would oppose helping military families.

But buried in the proposal was language stating that if voters approve another ballot measure that conflicts with its voucher protections, "the entire bill or measure is void."

Think about that for a moment.

Hundreds of thousands of Arizonans are currently signing petitions to place voucher reforms before voters. Yet the Legislature advanced a proposal that could invalidate a voter-approved reform measure in its entirety if it conflicts with the voucher protections being added to the Constitution.

Not part of it.

The entire thing.

That's not a debate about education policy. That's an attempt to predetermine the outcome and insulate the ESA program from the will of Arizona voters. And when military families are used as the vehicle to accomplish that goal, the military family isn't the policy. They're the shield.

And the main driver of these deceptive referrals were driven by conversations happening behind the scenes about whether a deal could be reached to stop the Protect Education initiative from moving forward altogether. These referrals were being used as leverage in a broader effort to keep ESA reform off the ballot.

Hundreds of thousands of Arizonans have signed the Protect Education petitions because they want a say in the future of the voucher program. Volunteers have spent months collecting signatures in every part of the state. Community groups invested time, money, and energy to put the issue before voters.

I wasn't part of those negotiations, and reasonable people can disagree about whether a deal should have been taken. But the fact that those conversations were happening at all tells you something important about the moment we were in.

To me, this was the clearest sign of just how concerned the majority party had become about voters weighing in on the ESA program.

This wasn't simply about winning a political argument. It was about preventing voters from having the final word.

This is about protecting a program that is approaching $1 billion a year in taxpayer spending. A program with documented examples of waste, fraud, and abuse concerns. A program where the majority of participants were already attending private school before taxpayers were asked to subsidize their tuition.

And rather than address those concerns, we watched efforts to constitutionally shield the program from future reform.

Sitting through all of this, I kept coming back to the same thought: if a program is working, if the public supports it, and if the facts are on your side, you shouldn't be afraid of voters.

But that wasn't what I witnessed during the final day of session. A day that lasted 19 hours long and ended at 4:30 a.m.

Here are each of these referrals, what they actually do, and why I believe Arizona voters should be paying attention.


** The Referrals Headed to Your Ballot
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**
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** HCR 2001 – Making Vote-by-Mail Harder
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What they're trying to do: Add new identification requirements for every voter, including those that vote by mail, creating a pathway for future restrictions on Arizona's popular early voting system.

Why I'm voting NO: Arizona's vote-by-mail system is secure, trusted, and used by nearly 80% of voters. This proposal creates new hurdles for voters who are already proving their identity and moves us in the wrong direction when we should be making participation easier, not harder.
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** HCR 2040 – Weakening Teachers' Voices
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What they're trying to do: Restrict teachers' unions by eliminating payroll deduction for dues, limiting communications, and reducing teachers' ability to organize collectively.

Why I'm voting NO: Teachers are already underpaid, overworked, and leaving the profession in alarming numbers. Silencing educators won't improve schools. Teachers deserve a voice in the classrooms and communities they serve.

This initiative is also written in a way that could be applied to ALL unions, including fire and police.
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** HCR 2044 – Rolling Back Civil Rights Protections
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What they're trying to do: Ban public institutions from considering race or ethnicity in a wide range of programs, hiring, education, and contracting decisions.

Why I'm voting NO: Equal opportunity doesn't happen by pretending disparities don't exist. This proposal risks eliminating programs designed to expand opportunity and creates unnecessary government interference in schools, universities, and public institutions.
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** HCR 2048 – Protecting the Voucher Program from Accountability
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What they're trying to do: Lock Arizona's voucher program into the Constitution and make future reforms nearly impossible, regardless of cost overruns, waste, abuse, or changing budget realities.

Why I'm voting NO: Arizona's voucher program has exploded in cost and primarily subsidizes families whose children were already attending private school. Instead of addressing documented problems, this proposal attempts to place the program beyond the reach of future voters and legislators. Most concerning, language added at the last minute states that if a future voter-approved reform conflicts with its voucher protections, "the entire bill or measure is void." That's not accountability—it's an attempt to prevent voters from having the final say.
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** SCR 1032 – Cutting Public School Support Services
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What they're trying to do: Force large school districts to comply with spending mandates set by a politically appointed official and impose escalating penalties for noncompliance.

Why I'm voting NO: This proposal threatens funding for counselors, nurses, transportation, school safety, arts, athletics, and other student supports that help kids succeed. It substitutes the judgment of local communities and educators with the decision of a single political appointee.

Government should not be weaponized against the people as a means to an ideological end. I hope this Rundown gave you a glimpse of how important it is to stay engaged and informed so that you have everything you need to hold elected leaders accountable.

We will be taking a Rundown break, but be back with you in July!

With kindness,

And last, but certainly not least, wishing all the great fathers and father figures a very special day today.

Father's Day is a joyful day to celebrate the wonderful dads who help shape our lives. Watching my husband with our boys is one of my greatest blessings.

At the same time, Father's Day carries a little sadness for those of us who have lost our fathers. I miss mine deeply. As the years pass, I find myself reflecting less on what he accomplished and more on the kind of man he was—kind, hardworking, humble, and always there when it mattered. Those are the qualities I admire and hope my sons carry on.

To all the dads, grandfathers, father figures, and those remembering someone they love, I hope your Father's Day was filled with love, gratitude, and good memories.

The whole family together to celebrate my brother’s first baby and my sister’s third! Congrats, Spence & Ben!


** Campaign Community Corner
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Have you signed the petitions? Have you asked your neighbors to?

Have you turned in the signatures you've collected?

Protect Education and Protect the Vote are entering their final weeks. What's at stake is straightforward: public education, responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and continued access to the mail-in voting system that millions of Arizonans rely on.

The people of Arizona deserve a seat at the table. If you haven't signed yet, now is the time. If you have, help make sure your friends, family, and neighbors do too.
Sign Up Here! ([link removed])
Sign Up Here! ([link removed])


** Make a Plan to Vote!
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Arizona’s upcoming voter registration and early voting deadlines are approaching quickly. Make your voice heard by registering to vote, checking your voter information, and making a plan to cast your ballot early.
BeBallotReady.Vote ([link removed])

Local Eats

Vacation Edition: El Torero

Yes, I know this isn't in Legislative District 5. But after a Father's Day trip to Tucson to celebrate with my brother and sister-in-laws new baby, I couldn't resist sharing a longtime family favorite.

If you grew up in Tucson, there's a good chance you've shared a meal at Lerua's. Owned by the same family, El Torero ([link removed]) carries that tradition forward while putting its own spin on it. For generations, this family has been feeding Tucsonans with love, creating the kind of restaurants that become part of family traditions and community memories.

My biggest challenge at El Torero is deciding what to order. Every item on the menu sounds delicious, from the classic Sonoran favorites to the rotating specials and surprisingly extensive vegetarian options. My advice? Don't try to choose. Order a few things for the table and share. Not only do you get to sample more of the menu, but the portions are generous enough that you'll still leave with leftovers and feel like you got your money's worth.

It is hard to give recommendations when everything is good, so I will let you know what we last ordered: the elote salad, bean dip, carnitas cheese crisp, and chopped churros with ice cream. A pretty perfect Tucson meal if you ask me.

If you find yourself heading south this summer, support a local family business that has been serving Tucson for generations!
Check Them Out! ([link removed])


** Upcoming Events
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