Bioscience Roadmap & Other Events

Pamela Powers Hannley and Corin Hammond

Before I get to the calendar, I would like to update you on an event that I attended yesterday: the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Roadmap Forum. The Flinn Foundation hosted representatives from the business community, the tech start-up community, and the University of Arizona– plus candidates and legislators. Scientists, entrepreneurs, and local business people presented a status update and Legislative wish list for growing start-up businesses in Southern Arizona (particularly in bioscience and technology).

As many of you know, I have been working in health/medical communications and later research for almost 30 years. Yesterday, it was heartwarming to hear the entrepreneurial success stories of cancer researchers who I worked with at the Arizona Cancer Center (long before they became local legends).

For me, the big take-home message from the event was that my ideas for sustainable economic development through public banking fit right in with the Bioscience Roadmap. By partnering with community banks, public banks can offer low-cost loans to local businesses for expansion and to start-up companies to get off the ground. This system would create a sustainable economic development loop, diversify the economy, create jobs, invest taxpayer funds locally, and strengthen community banks. Southern Arizona has many scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and musicians. We could be the Athens of the West– instead of the Dusty Pueblo– if we learned to grow our own local businesses, instead of chasing rainbows and call centers.

Let’s Talk! Three “Coffee with the Candidate” events have been scheduled. I envision these as less formal and more interactive that the house parties. Let’s get together and talk about the future of Arizona and what YOU want the Arizona Legislature to do.
June 26: Foothills Coffee with the Candidate
July 10: Legends Bar & Grill Coffee with the Candidate
July 17: Midtown Coffee with the Candidate

Debate time! Two opportunities to hear the LD9 candidates are also coming up in June and July.
June 28: Clean Elections Debate at PCC North
July 14: Nucleus Club LD9 Candidate Forum at the Viscount

Walk time and call time! We will be doing regular canvassing on Saturday mornings and early evening during the week (weather permitting). We also are setting up virtual phone banking.

Watch for announcements on Facebook, my campaign blog, and future email blasts. Remember, since I am a Clean Elections candidate, I won’t be sending you fundraising emails and my events don’t have a price tag. I am looking for volunteers, though.

Thank you so much for supporting my campaign. Please consider adding your name to my website supporter list.

Arizona Women Win 42 Legislative, State & Congressional Races (video)

Arizona has a history of electing women to public office. In 1932, Arizona elected Isabella Greenway to the US House of Representatives. In 1972, State Senator Sandra Day O’Connor was the first female president of the Arizona Senate. In 1998, Arizona voters elected five women to run the state government— Jane Hull (Governor), Betsy Bayless (Secretary of State), Janet Napolitano (Attorney General), Carol Springer (Treasurer), and Lisa Graham-Keegan (Superintendent of Public Instruction). To this date, Arizona’s Fab Five remain the most number of women elected to state government at the same time. In 2017, the Arizona Legislature had the highest percentage of women (40 percent) of any state Legislature in the Country.

In 2018, Arizona elected its first female US senator and 41 other women to political office. Out of 108 races, women won 39 percent of them this year. After inauguration in January 2019, half of Arizona’s statewide offices (4/8), 27 percent of our Congressional delegation (3/11), and 39 percent of the Arizona Legislature (35/90) will be women.

Most of the woman who won are Democrats but not all. In the Congressional races, US Senate was won by Kyrsten Sinema (D), Ann Kirkpatrick (D) took CD2, and Debby Lesko (R) was re-elected to CD8. On the statewide level, women took: Secretary of State (Katie Hobbs, D), Treasurer (Kimbery Yee, R), Superintendent of Public Instruction (Kathy Hoffman, D) and one of the Arizona Corporation Commission seats (Sandra Kennedy).

Continue reading Arizona Women Win 42 Legislative, State & Congressional Races (video)

Arizona Daily Star Endorses #LD9 Democrats (video)

LD 9 Reps. Dr. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley and Victoria Steele (State Senate candidate).

Several weeks ago, the three LD9 Democratic Party candidates– incumbent Reps. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley and Senate candidate Victoria Steele–and Republican write-in candidate for Senate Randy Fleenor were interviewed by editors and reporters from the Arizona Daily Star, as part of their endorsement process.(For the second election in a row, Republican House challenger Ana Henderson didn’t participate in the interview.)

On October 17, 2018, the Arizona Daily Star formally endorsed the LD9 Democratic team. (They had endorsed Friese and Powers Hannley in 2016 also.) Here is their announcement:

Star Endorsements: Victoria Steele, Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley in Arizona Legislative District 9 

The Star shot video clips of us after the interview.

 

LD9 Debate Reveals Stark Contrasts between Democrat & Republican Candidates (video)

Ana Henderson and Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

Can’t decide how to vote in the November 6 election? If you live in Legislative District 9, check out the LD9 debate before casting your vote.

The debate video below reveals clear differences between the candidates on key issues such as the minimum wage, food security, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), climate change, abortion, gun violence, and more. (Check out the Tucson Weekly story here.)

Five people are running for the three LD9 Legislative seats: incumbent Democrats Reps. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley (me), Republican challenger Ana Henderson, and Senate candidates former Democratic representative Victoria Steele and Republican write-in candidate Randy Fleenor.

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) conducts candidate debates, videotapes them, and stores them on their website and YouTube channel. If you live in a district other than LD9, check out the CCEC archive for the other 2018 debate videos. For Southern Arizona Legislative Districts, here are links to debates for LD2, LD3, LD10, LD11, LD8, and LD14.  (LD9 video embedded below.)

Continue reading LD9 Debate Reveals Stark Contrasts between Democrat & Republican Candidates (video)

LD9 Clean Elections Debate: Oct. 16 (video)

Legislative District 9 Democrats: incumbent Reps. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley with Senate candidate and former House Rep. Victoria Steele.

The three Democrats and two Republicans running for seats in Legislative District 9 will participate in a Clean Elections Debate on Tuesday, October 16, beginning at 6 p.m. at Pima College Northwest.

Running for the Arizona House are incumbent Reps. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley and Republican challenger Ana Henderson, who lost to the two Democrats in 2016. On the Senate side, Democrat and former House Rep. Victoria Steele and political newcomer Republican Randy Fleenor are vying for the seat vacated by Senator Steve Farley.

Come with your questions. Since this debate is being run by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC), at least half of the questions come from the audience.

Also, the CCEC will videotape the debate and make it available on their YouTube site if you can’t come. Links to other debates and to upcoming debate dates are here:
https://www.azcleanelections.gov/debates

Check out the 2016 LD9 debate between Friese, Powers Hannley and Henderson, below. Also, in this blog post, I annotated the topics in the debate: #LD9 Voters–Can’t Decide How to Vote? Watch the Debate (video).

 

Stop Thief! Community Forum on Restoring Fair Taxes

Arizona Legislature

LD9 House incumbents– Dr. Randy Friese and I– will be the featured speakers at the Stop Thief community forum on tax giveaways on July 31 at the IBEW Hall.

As many of you are aware, Arizona is upside down on its mortgage. Thanks to years of Republican tax cuts, our state gives away more than $13 billion in taxes and spends just $10 billion to run the state. For years, the people of Arizona believed the lie that our state is broke. Now the veil has been lifted. The people realize that our state has plenty of revenue. The problem is that the majority of our Legislators vote to give the money away–rather than spend it on much-needed services– like public education.

Austerity is a lie. Arizona has the money to fund public education. The problem is: the Legislature gives our taxes away. It’s time to end crony capitalism in Arizona.

When the Arizona budget comes up short because of the tax giveaways, loopholes, and sweetheart deals, Republicans cut funds from K-12 education, the universities, the community colleges, healthcare, and environmental protections. OR they suggest raising sales tax to fill in the budget gaps caused by tax cuts for the rich and for the corporations. (Unfortunately, some Democrats go along with more tax cuts for the powerful and more sales tax for the rest of us.)

The Arizona Legislature should be funding the People’s To-Do List– education, healthcare, infrastructure, and safety and security– not the corporate wish list.

Continue reading Stop Thief! Community Forum on Restoring Fair Taxes