Issues

Education

I believe strong public schools are the foundation for Arizona’s future. As a school board member for the past four years, I see how many of our critical education needs go unmet every day, and the critical choices educators face in the classroom. We need to be smart about our investments in education, but we clearly need to adequately fund our education system so that all our students are ready for the 21st century. We must work to keep dollars in the classroom and reduce class sizes. We must also strive to make college affordable to every Arizona family and to increase our number of college graduates.

Healthcare

When I ran the Providence Medical Center emergency department, I saw the devastating effects of our health care problem every day. There are a few steps that the Legislature can take in the immediate future to improve health care for Arizonans. The first is to expand KidsCare to make sure that all children are covered. We should also reduce the burden that small businesses shoulder by bolstering state programs to allow businesses to pool insurance. Our guiding principle should be working toward ensuring that all Arizonans have access to quality, affordable healthcare.

Economy

My guiding principles are always to use revenue efficiently, effectively and in ways that will make our state stronger. When we can, we should return money to taxpayers. We cannot, however, be penny wise and pound foolish. We must recognize the critical needs of this state, especially in infrastructure and education, and invest our resources in a way that will improve our growth in the long-term. We need to diversify our economy, and in particular, encourage high- tech industries to develop in Arizona. We need to focus on strengthening our schools, training workers and making our universities world-class centers for research that also offer a solid education for every Arizona child. We need to work hard to attract high-tech businesses, whether it’s through Science Foundation Arizona, research and development tax incentives or investing in alternative forms of energy.

 

 

Eric at work on the Scottsdale
Unified School District Governing Board