Issue Position: Limited Government

Issue Position

You hear it all the time from Republican legislators. They want less government. But look at their record: They have consistently pushed for more government in the lives of Arizona citizens--especially if it advances a special interest they support, and especially if it involves making legislators more powerful.

They shifted costs to counties, cities, towns and school districts, and then claimed to be budget cutters. All they were doing was shifting responsibility without providing funding--the very same thing they accuse Washington of doing.

They proposed more than 1,300 bills this year alone, most of which serve only to promote an illusion the legislator is "doing something" about this issue or that. We don't need 1,300 bills. We need a few serious pieces of legislation each year to solve real problems, not create new ones. I will support legislation severely restricting the number of bills that can be introduced, and requiring them to be single-issue measures rather than complicated hodge-podges of special interest earmarks. An example was the more than 200-page so-called "Jobs" bill passed with minimal discussion last year. It hasn't created jobs but it has set us on the path to serious budget problems a year or two down the road.

I believe in limited, effective government. That is measured in the quality of legislation not quantity. It is not a state government bent on undermining the rights, authority and responsibility and Arizona citizens and their local levels of government.

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