Today’s Update Is about Gratitude (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers
Arizona House women

Today’s video is about gratitude.

It is a tribute to the women representatives who became my friends in the past four years but have now moved on to other career adventures or to the Senate.

Serving in the Legislature is a tough job. It’s good to have colleagues who have your back and who are willing to lend an ear. Thank you to former Reps. Isela Blanc, Gerae Peten, Winona Benally, Kirsten Engel (now a Senator) and Rosanna Rodriguez Gabaldon (now a Senator). Blanc, Peten, Benally and Engel were four of the eight “Feisty Freshmen” from 2017. Only four of us are still in the House: Reps. Kelli Butler, Mitzi Epstein, Athena Salman and me.

Many of us were elected in 2016 because we fully utilized social media and communicated with constituents regularly. In the House, we kept talking and Tweeting. The Republican men did everything they could think of to shut us up, but they were never successful.

We had strength in our solidarity and our speaking skills and our passion. Thank you for being there. 

#AZ House Debates, Passes Association Health Plans SB1085 (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers

Although we had a short floor calendar on May 1, we had some rousing debates. The highlight was a two-hour debate on SB1085, association health plans. (Watch the action here, beginning at 19:32 min.)

The Republicans have had three bills this year to lower healthcare insurance costs by encouraging people to leave the healthcare marketplace. I agree that the Affordable Care Act is too expensive, particularly for sole proprietors (like my husband who was offered a silver ACA plan for more than $1000 per month just for him.) This is why I voted for direct care contracts. I believe those are a better deal for sole proprietors than association health plans.)

Democrats debated valiantly, led by Health and Human Services Ranking Member Rep. Kelli Butler (right). Here, she does Q&A with Rep. Isela Blanc.

I get that costs are too high, but the association health plans are not the way to go. They could, indeed, lower costs for business owners, but they could be risky due to limited coverage. There are reasons why these plans will likely be cheaper. Remember the old adage “you get what you pay for”. If sole proprietor business owners want to take a risk with their own insurance and their own health, I have a mind to let them take their own risk. (Just don’t ask me to help you later with a Go Fund Me Request if it turns out I was right on limited coverage under cheap junk insurance plans.)

Where I object is when businesses are making these risky insurance decisions for their employees— just to save money.

Continue reading #AZ House Debates, Passes Association Health Plans SB1085 (video)

July LD9 Constituent Update: News & Upcoming Events

Posted on by Pamela Powers
Reps. Kirsten Engel and Pamela Powers Hannley

It may be hot on the sidewalks of the Old Pueblo, but that doesn’t stop Tucsonans from getting together for community events. Since the Arizona Legislature ended its session in mid-May, I have attended several community events and have given a number of Legislative Updates to groups. I have two events set up so far for July. (You can see the details below or on my Facebook page.)

There were many hot topics in the Legislature this session: teacher pay, the assault on public education and expansion of private and public school vouchers(ESAs), the assault on the Citizens’ Initiative process, hemp cultivation, gun rights, restoration of cash assistance and child care credits for needy families, theEqual Rights Amendment (ERA), fetal resuscitation, corporate tax cuts, andsurprise billing insurance reform, to name a few.

After the session, I was honored to be recognized by the Sierra Club with an A+ rating, by the Secular Coalition as a“Secular Star”, by Children’s Action Alliance with a 100% rating and by the Pima County Interfaith Council (PCIC) formy work on the Spice issue.

Thank you for your support and your emails. It is an honor to serve you in the Arizona House.

Below are a few news items from my email blast. If you want to be on my email list or my blog go here.

Continue reading July LD9 Constituent Update: News & Upcoming Events