FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2023
PHOENIX – Senator Catherine Miranda is excited to welcome newly appointed LD26 Representative Quanta Crews to the legislature and to work with her as new Chair as the Arizona State Legislative Black Caucus.
“I was honored to have taken our Black caucus under my wing to support our communities in our districts. I want to thank all who supported this effort especially the National Black Caucus for State Legislators (NBCSL),” Senator Miranda stated. “Nobody should ever feel left out, no matter what the make up in the legislature is. I am honored to handover the Black Caucus torch to our newly appointed Representative Quanta Crews! I will continue to support our Black Caucus and Representative Crews as she leads moving forward.”
Representative Crews also added, “I am deeply honored by the opportunity to lead the Black Caucus. We have amazing talent, and a rich legacy of innovation and championing justice. We’ve had amazing community leaders called to this space before me: Ethel Reed Maynard, Carolyn Walker, Sandra Kennedy, Herschella Horton, Leah Landrum Taylor, Geraldine Peten, Hayzel Burton Daniels, Carl Sims, Doc Fitzgerald Benson, Gilbert Gray Sr, Jordan D. Holmes, Cloves Colbert Campbell Sr., Elishia Leon Thompson Sr., Horace Eddy Owens, Arthur M. Hamilton, Rev. Dr. George Benjamin Brooks, Sr., David S. Armstead, Cloves Colbert Campbell Jr, Reginald Bolding Jr, and David Marshall Sr. We aren’t new to this, we are true to this. Our leaders lead every day in their respective industries, faith groups and neighborhoods every day. It’s time for us to move our Arizona family forward, working across the aisle to find opportunities for us to shine and thrive. A special thank you to Senator Catherine Miranda for facilitating the transition of the caucus back into the hands of the African American community.” Prioritizing investments in our young people, keeping people in secure and affordable housing, and addressing our ongoing natural resource crisis: An increase in K-12 education funding to keep up with inflation.
Increased funding for the Housing Trust Fund to deal with the housing affordability crisis. Immediate funding to address the homelessness crisis and invest in intervention services.
Basic funding for our state agencies.
Ongoing funding to raise healthcare providers to competitive salaries.
Funding for our rural fire districts so they have the equipment and personnel they need.
Ongoing funding to our state universities to help offset the high cost of tuition.
Eyeglasses for low-income Arizonans on AHCCCS.
Salary increases for providers servingArizonans with developmental disabilities.
The current budget only partly addresses – or ignores – these issues. The reality is due to irresponsible tax cuts, our state revenue is not keeping up with our growth and economy. No responsible lawmaker from either party should be willing to bankrupt our state, neglect the homeless, let our rural areas run out of water and fail to raise teacher salaries or even keep public school funding on pace with inflation in order to give wealthy families in the richest zip codes a government subsidy to reduce their children's private school tuition. Republicans 23 years ago acted quickly to address the Alt-Fuels fiasco, anothermisguided subsidy for the purchaseof SUVs and luxury vehicles.That program quickly grew out of control and was halted when the projected cost to the state grew to nearly $700 million. A Republican Governor and Legislature wisely approved a moratorium and imposed new eligibility requirements to reduce the state's expense. Alt-Fuels, like the Republican’s Alt-Schools ESA voucher program was supposed to cost a tiny fraction of what it actually cost.
Governor Hobbs has long been a strong advocate for our state and is working to make positive change under a broken Republican framework. That starts with creating a budget that puts everyday Arizonans first.”
