Mitzi on Fiscal Responsibility

Our state budget is a reflection of our values.  Arizonans value public education and supporting the health and well-being of children. Arizonans value our stunning mountain vistas and beautiful deserts.  We want our state to be open for business, inviting for tourism,  and a haven for a pleasant retirement. But we cannot afford to increase funding for everything.  We must choose our priorities. 

As your State Representative, my number one priority is to restore education funding.  Gov. Ducey's proposal is far from enough and it will take too long.  Our teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, and of course,  our students have waited long enough.  We need action now.  That means we must stop adding more and more tax breaks and loopholes year after year, that drain funding away from our essential responsibilities like education.  

In my experience at Citicorp and at manufacturing corporations, we monitored and measured new programs, but too often in state budgeting, a new program is started and the results are ignored.  It is imperative to test a new tax break to see if it is causing the intended outcomes. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I press for changes to bills to make them financially sound.  I have developed a list of criteria to measure and monitor the results of tax exemptions and tax credit programs. 

I have seen far too many bills cross my desk for which the sponsor has not gotten a fiscal analysis.  I think that's ridiculous!
We must know how a bill will affect the budget,  and I certainly will not vote for a bill without a careful fiscal impact analysis. 

Taxpayers deserve accountability for every dollar.