Issue Position: Stable Families
Issue Position
Expertise and A Commitment to Public Education
David has spent his life studying, supporting and fighting for Arizona public schools. The premier education expert in Arizona, David attended Arizona public schools, has served them as a policy analyst, the Associate Superintendent for the State of Arizona, and as a professor training educators across the state. As a dad, he now sends his two daughters to Arizona public schools. It is time to elect not another self-anointed "education governor' but to elect an educator as the next Governor. Read David's plan to finally invest in Arizona schools.
Investing in Childhood
As Governor, David will increase access to high-quality early education and affordable child care programs, and expand statewide access to after school programs.
Early learning is profoundly beneficial to our young children. As Governor, David would support increased access to high-quality full-day pre-K programs. A child's brain develops rapidly during the first five years of life, especially the first three years. It is a time of rapid cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and motor development.
Research demonstrates that high-quality pre-K increases a child's chances of succeeding in school and in life. Children who attend high-quality programs are less likely to be held back a grade, less likely to need special education, and more likely to graduate from high school. They also have higher earnings as adults and are less likely to become dependent on welfare or involved with law enforcement. Classrooms where all children are prepared have higher learning productivity and classroom efficiency. More able children perform more capably in the classroom and enhance the learning of other children. Teachers spend more time working directly with children and less on classroom management.1
Quality, affordable child care is critical for families who struggle with the decision of one parent working or staying home to juggle the cost of childcare putting them at an economic disadvantage. For many Arizona families, quality child care has become too expensive or unattainable. Employees who have quality and affordable child care options are more stable and productive workers, which in turn makes Arizona more competitive when attracting business.
Protecting our Children
Arizona consistently ranks as one of the worst places in the United States to be a kid.
Our child welfare system is in a state of crisis. Almost every other state is seeing a steady decline in the number of children entering foster care, while Arizona is seeing the opposite. Foster care policy should be focused on strengthening families because we know that when families are given the tools, resources, necessary support, and financial security they can properly care for their children and eliminate the need for foster care altogether. These supports do not currently exist and with a prevalence of poverty wage jobs and the instability that comes from working poverty, we see our foster care rolls at unsustainable highs.
When child safety is a concern and children must be removed from an unsafe environment, our priority must be to ensure that every child is able to achieve lifelong permanency. No child should age out of the foster care system and every child should have a supportive adult in their life that they can call upon when things get difficult. Sadly, many of the children in Arizona foster care are left with no stable support system once they leave care.
There is nothing normal about being involved in the foster care system. Normalcy for these young people means participating in developmentally appropriate activities and that kids are given the love, attention, and security they deserve so they can reach their fullest potential as contributing members of society.
In addition to supporting families, frontline social workers need to know that we are there for them. Having consistent and reliable contact with a social worker is pivotal in the success of a foster child and when caseworkers are supported, they are able to develop deeper relationships with the children and better understand their issues and concerns.
Immigrant Families are Arizona Families
Arizona has suffered from Republican attacks on immigrants for over a decade. It has hurt our kids, our families and our economy. We must move on from the failed politics and policies of Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump and Doug Ducey and rebuild an Arizona that is inclusive, fair and open for business.
Immigrants are an essential cornerstone of Arizona's economy. Immigrant-owned businesses generated $1.3B into the economy in 2014 and employed nearly 114,000 Arizonans in 2007; almost 22% of all Arizona entrepreneurs are foreign born. Immigrant households earned $21.4 billion or 13% of all income in Arizona in 2014, paid more than 1 in 8 dollars in state and local taxes, and contributed almost $2.7 billion into Social Security and Medicare.2
As Governor, David will stand with Dreamers and make sure that these young people - brought to this country as children and who represent the best of American values like hard work, sacrifice and service - are protected and allowed to live, work and study without fear. David supports treating these young Americans like any other young Arizonan and making sure basic supports like in-state tuition or a driver's license are not obstacles to becoming the future business and civic leaders of our state. David will fight the mass deportation policies of Trump, Arpaio and Ducey and restore Arizona's image as a place where immigrant contributions are valued and law-abiding families are protected.
Mexico is by far Arizona's largest trading partner with over $17 billion in trade between Arizona and Mexico every year. While Ducey touts his travel junkets as helping to restore business relationships with Mexico, anyone who spends any amount of time in Mexico today knows how much damage Republicans and Ducey have done to Arizona's reputation with Mexican leaders, business people and consumers. To truly undo the decades of damage Ducey and Republicans have done to our economy, Arizona must invest in deep alliances with everyday Mexicans and communicate how we are moving on from our failed past and attacks on Mexico. David will be the first bilingual and Latino governor in over 40 years and is committed to being Arizona's loudest champion in Mexico and Latin America not just undoing the damage done but also promoting the business, trade and resources that Arizona has to offer. David will vigorously oppose Trump's foolish wall and the further damage it would inflict on our border communities and economic partnerships.
David understands that the choice between border security and compassionate immigration policy is a false one. We can both keep Arizonans safe, vigorously punish drug and human smuggling while protecting immigrant families who have built lives here, play by the rules and are simply the next generation of Americans "yearning to breathe free.' Further demonization and angry rhetoric from Republicans and Ducey won't achieve any of these outcomes and the will of Arizonans is clear: the days of attacking immigrants in Arizona are over.
A Champion for Arizona Women
David is proud to have the endorsement of Planned Parenthood of Arizona. He trusts women to make their own healthcare decisions alongside their doctor -- not politicians -- and he will oppose any attempt to make it harder for women to access quality healthcare. David is an advocate for healthy families and will advance policies that support Arizona's women, families and, ultimately the state as a whole.
David has been and will continue to be a strong voice in support of comprehensive health education, access to family planning and women's health services, including access to legal and safe abortions, and policies that are inclusive, fair and that strengthen families.
When women succeed, Arizona succeeds. David also believes that our state will thrive under Equal Pay for Equal Work laws and that when women are given equal opportunity, they will succeed at every level. As Governor, David would push for equal pay legislation that levels the playing field for women in the workplace. A Garcia administration will partner with and encourage women-owned businesses and lead by example to hire the best and brightest women to help lead our state forward.
Fairness for ALL Families
David is committed to a government that fights discrimination and protects the civil rights of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, immigration status, or gender identity.
As governor, David will make education his priority - including comprehensive, medically accurate, and age-appropriate health education for ALL Arizona students.
It is legal today in Arizona to fire someone simply for who they are or who they love.
Workplace discrimination hurts our economy, our state, and our people, and makes it more difficult to attract top-talent to Arizona. Arizona does not have a statewide law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That is why, as Governor, David will sign an executive order prohibiting state employers and state contractors from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender expression. David will also push for passage of a permanent law that protects LGBTQ Arizonans from discrimation at the workplace, in housing, and in public accomodations.
David will ensure protections against harassment within the executive branch are strong and work with legislators to require sexual harassment training and prevention programs for all state employees.
Protecting Outdoor Arizona for our Children and Families
As a commercial painter, David's dad wasn't able to take the Garcia kids on fancy vacations every year, but they always got out of town at least once per year, mostly on camping trips into the beautiful Arizona outdoors. David's dad taught him a lesson that David now teaches his two girls, "leave it cleaner than you found it." This message exemplifies the Arizona spirit when it comes the natural beauty we have been called to steward.
As Governor, David will fight to protect our natural resources, air and water that make Arizona a top tourist destination and are an important part of our outdoor heritage.
David believes that climate change is a real and urgent threat and that politicians who are doing nothing about it are putting all of us and future generations of Arizonans at risk. Not only does lack of action threaten the future of our state and the planet, it also ignores an enormous economic opportunity to make Arizona the nation's leader in solar energy and that would put people to work in good-paying jobs and careers.
David believes that the best way to address the impacts of climate change is to embrace a plan to transition Arizona to a 21st Century clean energy grid and make Arizona the solar superpower it should be as rapidly as possible. David was the first statewide candidate to endorse the Clean Energy for Healthy Arizona initiative that will increase the amount of our energy that comes from renewable sources like wind and solar from 15% today to 50% by 2030. David knows this initiative will create thousands of good jobs and real careers across Arizona that pay well enough to support a family and will result in cleaner water, air, and better health outcomes for people.
This approach will sharply reduce toxic pollutants like carbon, mercury and sulfur dioxide. Doctors say this will dramatically reduce the rates of heart disease, asthma, respiratory diseases, and even cancer -- especially for children and seniors. We have an obligation to do something now, so we don't leave our children and grandchildren a planet that is damaged and polluted.
Healthy Families
David believes that healthcare is a fundamental right not a privilege. Trump's attacks on Arizona's health care coverage would have been a disaster and Doug Ducey supported Trump's giveaways to the wealthy and corporations at the expense of Arizonans' health. Ducey refused to stand up to Trump and to protect Arizona health care coverage. David, on the other hand, supports Arizonans being able to see a doctor when they get sick and believes that Arizona should begin moving towards Medicare for All. In the meantime, Arizona has a cost-efficient and successful Medicaid program that should be expanded and made available to healthier and younger Arizonans who choose to buy in.
David understands that it's not just about putting people on insurance or getting them to the doctor. It's about improving quality of life for our families, reducing disease, and building a productive economy for the long run. We need to build a better health system across the board, from our hospitals and doctors offices, mental and behavioral health system to our environmental policies, to our schools, nursing homes, and community centers.
David will fight to maintain the historic protections in the Affordable Care Act like ensuring those with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage, making sure lifetime caps are never allowed to return and that essential health care benefits actually include basic and necessary health treatments. David will fight to expand the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to ensure it covers the working poor or those who make too much to qualify today but not enough to afford insurance on the marketplace; he will also work to make sure AHCCCS covers all mental and behavioral health care needs. David will fight to expand the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to ensure it covers the working poor, healthier and younger Arizonans who chose to buy in or those who make too much to qualify today but not enough to afford insurance on the marketplace; he will also work to make sure AHCCCS covers all mental and behavioral health care needs. David will fight to make sure that if something catastrophic happens to a loved one, the family won't face the choice between bankruptcy or healthcare.
Source