– Arizona Republicans are warning that Democrats, only a couple of seats away from majorities in both legislative chambers, would have a profound effect on the state’s business and political climate.
Gillette is arguing that parents should be able to make the best choice for their child’s education especially due to declining quality of Arizona’s public schools. According to a 2023 U.S. News & World report, Arizona ranked 45 in education out of all 50 states. The other educational priority for Democrats is the renewal of Proposition 123, a proposition currently in effect that uses the State Land Trust Permanent Fund to fund public education. This particular package would extend Prop. 123 for 10 years and increase the distribution to 8.9%.
Democrats have said that they would keep taxes low by appropriating funds from other places in the budget, which is facing a $1.4 billion deficit. “If the Democrats are going to follow the mantra of Vice President Harris and attempt to put price controls on items in the grocery store, for example, and I have to sell a gallon of milk for $2 and I can’t purchase it for anything less than $2.50, guess what? I’m not going to sell milk,” Shope said.Shope’s grandfather opened a local grocery store that has been in his family through multiple generations.
“It’s an individual responsibility and a constitutional right and if those citizens don’t feel that they have the time in their day to observe their constitutional rights, then maybe we don’t need their vote,” Gillette said. “If they can’t take the five minutes to fill out their ballot and stick it in the box, then do we really need their vote?”
“The reason we don’t do the popular vote is because four cities in the entire United States would control every election forever,” Gillette said. “It doesn’t give equal say and equal representation of the lesser of the populus.”Another priority for Democrats is increasing gun control, which Republicans believe is a constitutional violation and not the answer to the problem Democrats are trying to solve – shootings involving children in the home and at schools.
Gillette said another solution is to bring gun safety training into the schools, legislation which he ran with Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott, this past legislative session. “We harden our facilities,” Gillette said. “We put armed police back in school, we allow teachers to be armed so you never know who’s going to be armed and who’s not. we have psychologists talking about their gender and their needs and their feelings. It all stems back to behavioral health and what we’re doing to the kids in school just increases the number of mass shootings. I think we go back to the old standard of educating kids leaving their brain alone.