Though it must cover a vast array of complex and interrelated public policy issues relevant to our state by its very nature, the Green New Deal for Arizona can be broken down into four essential parts, stated firmly as demands that We the People are making of our state and local governments. The Four Demands of the Green New Deal for Arizona are as follows;

1. WE demand a sustainable future

Our government must take bold action to ensure that the integrity of the natural and man-made systems on which we depend are maintained. We demand a future for our children that is equitable, sustainable, and ensures the next generations will not have to suffer from the careless decadence of the past and present. We must greatly reduce frivolous economic activity, curb our total resource and energy consumption, transition off fossil fuels and onto renewables, protect and restore our local ecosystems and wildlife populations, and minimize pollution and waste in order to remain within the safe boundaries of our environment. We have a responsibility to the planet and to the future to ensure that Arizona remains a healthy and habitable place for all living beings to survive and thrive.

a.) Water quality & conservation

• Review and update the Arizona Groundwater Management Act of 1980 by expanding the scope and number of active groundwater management areas and imposing stricter regulations regarding groundwater use, monitoring, reporting, and conservation.

• Close existing loopholes in AZ law that allow developers to bypass the 100-year assured water supply requirement.

• Implement regulations and incentives to promote water-efficient appliances, fixtures, and landscaping practices.

• End all state funding for water-intensive industrial/agricultural practices and reinvest in water reclamation and conservation efforts.

• Heavily tax excessive groundwater use and provide financial incentives/tax credits for businesses that implement and commit to local water conservation efforts.

• Increase the frequency of statewide surface and groundwater testing to detect and monitor harmful materials in our water supply (PFOS/PFAS, herbicides/pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, heavy metals, toxic chemicals, etc).

• Invest heavily in improving our wastewater treatment processes and technology

• Require all new developments to include both passive (curbside basins, swales, permeable pavement, etc) and active (collection systems and tanks) rainwater harvesting infrastructure to reduce their overall water use; retrofit existing developments to do the same.

  B.) Energy production & efficiency

• Pass an “Arizona O.F.F. (Off Fossil Fuels) Act” to require the State of Arizona to develop a statewide plan for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and onto 100% clean, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric by 2035.

• Require all AZ cities and towns to develop and enact a municipal Climate Action Plan (CAP) to reduce emissions and promote sustainability at the local level.

• Divest all state funding from the fossil fuel industry and reinvest it in the research, development, and implementation of a statewide renewable energy transition.

• Ban the development of any and all new fossil fuel infrastructure in the State of Arizona; phase out and decommission existing fossil fuel infrastructure as we replace it with renewables.

• Promote the creation of municipal public power utilities that are owned and democratically operated by the communities they serve.

• Raise statewide energy-efficiency standards for utilities, appliances, and buildings through increased public pressure on the AZ Corporation Commission.

• Create a statewide fund for workers currently employed in the fossil fuel industry that ensures their economic well-being while they transition to new employment.

C.) Agriculture & Food Systems

• Ban the use of neonicotonoid pesticides which contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder and decimate local bee populations, which are essential to the pollination of our crops.

• Ban the overuse of antibiotics as additives in livestock feed, which can create antibiotic resistant pathogens.

• Rapidly phase out the use of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) which are detrimental to our environment and have severe lasting effects on water and soil quality.

• Reduce the amount of farmland used for the production of non-food crops (such as those used as cattle feed and as biofuels) and ensure that agricultural land is primarily utilized for producing native and/or drought-resistant food crops.

• Require the labeling of all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in commercially sold food items for the purpose of consumer transparency.

• Invest in agrivoltaics, which use solar panels as a means of both shading crops from the intense heat of the sun while simultaneously producing clean, renewable energy on-site for local farms.

• Scale back production of water-intensive crops such as alfalfa and cotton, which currently use far more water than crops that are more drought-resistant and better suited to our local ecosystems.

• Break up agricultural monopolies and ensure that first priority for state funding and agricultural land goes to small-scale, family-owned farms.

• Create a statewide fund to insure incomes for AZ’s farmers and help them transition away from water-intensive crops while maintaining their livelihoods.

• Transition existing crop watering systems to drip irrigation, which uses less water overall to irrigate our crops.

• Increase funding for Community Food Projects including Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), food co-operatives, urban farms, and community gardens, particularly in underserved communities without adequate access to healthy food.

D.) Land & Minerals

• Conduct comprehensive land use planning to identify areas suitable for mining that minimize impacts on sensitive ecosystems, biodiversity, and cultural resources.

• Require mining companies to engage with local communities and stakeholders in the planning and operation phases.

• Ensure transparency in decision-making processes and provide opportunities for public input on mining projects.

• Designate protected areas and buffer zones around environmentally sensitive regions to safeguard wildlife habitats and water sources.

• Mandate mining companies provide financial assurance for environmental remediation and long-term monitoring after mine closure.

• Hold mining companies criminally and financially liable for environmental damages and ensure adequate resources are available for cleanup efforts.

• Incentivize mining companies to adopt best practices in environmental management, such as using water recycling systems, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing waste generation.

• Provide technical assistance and funding for research and development of environmentally friendly mining technologies.

• Implement and enforce stringent regulations on air and water quality, waste management, and land reclamation for mining operations.

• Require comprehensive environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for new mining projects to evaluate potential risks and mitigation strategies.

E.) conservation & restoration

• Regularly monitor the ecological health of critical Arizona habitats, using a multitude of environmental health indicators such as soil quality, biodiversity, water tables, etc., to determine the ecosystems that are most at-risk and in-need of greater environmental protections.

• Work to actively restore the populations of keystone species, whose populations play an outsized role in the overall health and regulation of the ecosystems they inhabit.

• Incentivize the active removal of invasive species by local hunters, fishermen, and foragers, and invest in outreach and education efforts that increase public awareness of the damaging effects of invasive species in our local environments.

• Severely limit/restrict new forms of building and development within critically endangered and protected habitats.

F.) Natural disasters

• Classify extreme heat as a natural disaster and direct significant resources towards heat death and heat illness prevention.

• Implement Indigenous land management practices in combination with modern firefighting techniques such as controlled/prescribed burns to mitigate the amount and severity of wildfires.

G.) Pollution

• Hold corporations legally and financially responsible for the pollution they create as a byproduct of their business practices.

• Ban the use of single-use, individual plastic products (with exceptions for those that are medically necessary).

H.) transportation

• Increase state funding for the expansion and improvement of our public transportation systems, including buses, light rail, and commuter trains.

• Prioritize transit investments in historically underserved areas, as well as regions with high commuter traffic.

• Encourage and incentivize Transit Oriented Development (T.O.D.), bringing new housing development closer to public transportation centers in mixed-use neighborhoods to ensure ease of use and quality of experience.

• Promote a seamless integration between different modes of public transportation (bus, rail, bike-sharing) to create a comprehensive and multi-modal transit network.

• Enhance connectivity between local urban centers, suburbs, and major employment hubs, as well as between the State of Arizona’s major geographic regions of population (e.g., between Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson).

• Prioritize accessibility and safety for all modes of mobility over speed for cars alone in our transit design

I.) waste management & Recycling

• Require that all cities/towns implement municipal composting and curbside recycling services.

• Provide funding for educational programs and public outreach campaigns to teach citizens how to live more sustainably.

J.) New Development

• Require all newly developed buildings to meet or exceed net-zero emissions and energy efficiency standards; provide state funding for business and property owners to retrofit existing developments to meet these standards.

• Restrict new building development to essentials and ensure that urban sprawl is greatly reduced.

K.) degrowth

• Implement the “4-Day/32 Hour Workweek” proposal put forth by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders at the state level without a cut in pay for workers.

• Regulate commercial advertisements and reduce unnecessary ads in public spaces

• Define and set an appropriate “wage ceiling” for top income earners, such that once the top earners of a company collects an annual income that is more than 100x its lowest earner, any income beyond this threshold is taxed at 100%.

• Set a progressive statewide luxury tax on financial transactions involving “luxury goods” that are primarily available to the wealthiest Arizonans, such as jewelry, vehicles, technology/electronics, and real estate.

2. We demand an economic bill of rights

The people of Arizona deserve the comfort and security of knowing that their fundamental needs will be met by the government when the market fails to provide. In the spirit of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1944 State of the Union address to Congress in which he called for a “Second Bill of Rights”, we are demanding a true social safety net and a guarantee by our state government that all Arizona residents- regardless of their income or employment status- will be provided the basic economic necessities of a dignified modern life. These necessities include quality healthcare, stable housing, healthy food, clean water, a lifelong education, gainful employment, high-speed broadband, childcare/eldercare, basic income, a secure retirement, and a living wage.

A.) Public Healthcare

• Increase the maximum income limits necessary to qualify for AHCCCS coverage by 10% each year until all Arizona residents are covered, creating a true statewide public option for healthcare.

• Invest state and federal funds into the purchase and cancellation of Arizonans’ medical debt at a fraction of the cost of the debt that is owed.

• Increase the amount of mobile “safe use” sites with staff trained in the use of Narcan for overdose-prevention and needle-exchange programs for those who use drugs.

• Re-instate mask mandates in medical settings, particularly while interacting with immunocompromised or at-risk patients such as in emergency rooms, hospice care, pediatrics, etc.

• Expand the installation and use of quality indoor air filtration to all public buildings, with regular monitoring and reporting of indoor air quality metrics.

  B.) HOusing for all

• Adopt a statewide “housing first” model to ending homelessness by prioritizing moving our unhoused population into safe and stable housing without requiring drug tests/treatments, mental health assessments, participation in service programs, proof of employment or enrollment in an educational program, etc.

• Provide adequate access to and information about supportive services on a voluntary basis for those who are at risk, are currently experiencing, or have recently experienced homelessness.

• Reform our zoning and land use regulations to remove minimum lot sizes, setbacks, parking requirements, etc. that contribute to urban/suburban sprawl and create barriers to building more housing on less land.

• Legalize and prioritize the development of “missing middle” housing such as mid-rises, townhomes, duplexes/triplexes/quadplexes, casitas, etc.

• Support the creation, expansion, and public funding of new and existing community land trusts, whose purpose is to purchase properties and hold ownership of the land itself in trust, which removes the value of the land from the price of the property and helps keep housing affordable for low-income residents and first-time home buyers while allowing them to build equity from improvements and refurbishments made to the home.

• Implement a statewide vacancy tax on unoccupied single-family residences that increases every 6 months until the home is either rented to a tenant or sold to a new occupying owner

• Repeal Arizona’s current statewide ban on rent control and return the ability to set price controls on rent payments to city/town governments.

• Allow cities/towns to set their own limits and regulations on the number of short-term rentals and vacation properties that exist and operate for profit within their communities.

• Enact statewide limits on the amount of single-family residences that may be purchased and owned by corporations/hedge funds.

  C.) lifelong public Education

• Make all public colleges and universities 100% tuition-free to align with the Arizona State Constitution’s specification that “university instruction shall be as nearly free as possible”.

• Mandate the full and equal funding of our public schools; decouple education funding and teacher salaries from property taxes and arbitrary performance metrics like standardized test scores.

• Eliminate AZ’s universal ESA voucher program and prohibit the use of public funds for the payment of tuition and fees at private/charter schools without proper oversight and accountability measures.

• Increase the average pay and benefits for AZ’s public school teachers/support staff to rates that are at least on par or higher than national averages.

• Reduce average class sizes and case loads to be at least on par with or lower than national averages.

• Increase the number of certified and on-site social workers per pupil in our public schools.

• Integrate informal educational opportunities into the municipal design and development of our cities and towns.

  D.) guaranteed Employment

• Enact a “Green Jobs Program” to hire, train, and direct the necessary labor force that will carry out the transition to an ecologically sound economy, with first hiring priority reserved for workers that were formerly employed in the fossil fuel industry.

  E.) Childcare

• Expand eligibility criteria for state childcare subsidies to include more working-class and low-income families.

• Increase funding for childcare subsidies to reduce waitlists and increase the number of families served.

• Expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, which can also serve as childcare for working parents.

• Support initiatives that integrate early childhood education with childcare services.

• Simplify and expedite the process for obtaining childcare licenses, particularly for home-based providers, to increase the number of available slots, ensuring that regulations are balanced to maintain child safety without imposing unnecessary barriers to entry.

• Mandate Arizona employers provide paid parental leave of at least 18 weeks for both the maternal and paternal parent in order to bring us on par with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (O.E.C.D.) averages, and to support parents during the critical early years of childcare.

  F.) Retirement security & Elder care

• Establish and promote state-sponsored retirement savings programs, such as IRA-based plans or state-administered retirement savings plans, especially for workers without access to employer-sponsored plans.

• Provide tax incentives or matching contributions to encourage participation in retirement savings programs.

• Monitor and regulate financial institutions offering retirement products to ensure transparency and reliability.

• Implement policies to support family caregivers, such as caregiver tax credits, respite care programs, and training opportunities.

• Provide information and referral services to connect caregivers with support networks and resources.

• Strengthen laws and services aimed at preventing elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

• Fund elder abuse hotlines, legal assistance programs, and advocacy services for older adults.

• Support funding for programs that promote healthy aging, physical activity, and social engagement among older adults.

• Provide funding for senior centers, community centers, and recreational programs tailored to older adults' interests and needs.

• Promote workforce training and job placement programs targeted at older workers to support continued labor force participation and financial security.

• Enforce age-based anti-discrimination laws and advocate for policies that prevent discrimination based on age in employment and hiring practices.

  G.) Basic income

• Enact a statewide “negative income tax” that would eliminate the state income tax for individuals who earn below 50% of the median annual income and provide a tax refund/rebate to make up for the difference.

• Direct a portion of the revenue from a tax on carbon emissions towards “carbon dividends” paid directly to low and moderate income households.

• Develop a UBI “pilot program” consisting of the most in-need populations (the unhoused, single-income families with dependents, the elderly, etc.) to monitor and research the efficacy of a UBI program and its effect on alleviating poverty.

  H.) Living Wages For All

• Raise the statewide minimum wage to $25/hour, retaining the current requirement that the minimum wage must be tied to and increase with inflation, and additionally require that it be indexed to the average cost of living in the state.

• End the sub-minimum wage allowance for tipped workers and mandate that all minimum wage employees make the same hourly wage, regardless of if they are in a tipped occupation or not.

  I.) fair taxation

• Repeal the statewide 2.5% flat income tax rate and replace it with a progressive state income tax

• Levy a tax on carbon emissions starting at $20/Metric Ton of CO2 equivalent emissions and increasing by $20/Metric Ton/year over ten years, with rebates for low and moderate-income households in order to make the wealthiest and largest polluters pay for the damage they’ve caused to our environment, and to help fund the clean energy transition.

• Increase the state corporate income tax rate from 4.9% to at least 9.8%

• Implement a progressive statewide estate tax and inheritance tax, which increases based on the total monetary value of the estate/inheritance

• Reduce the state tax rate on retirement income sources such as 401(k)s, public pensions, and IRA distributions.

• Decrease the state and local use tax rates to alleviate the economic burden on low and middle income consumers

3. WE demand social justice for all

The legacy of settler-colonialism, classism, racism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia, etc., have held the social and economic progress of working class and marginalized communities in Arizona back by generations. We demand equal rights, protections, and opportunities for all Arizonans, regardless of our personal identity or background. We must be willing and able to listen, learn, and take accountability for the current injustices in our society, and commit to righting the wrongs of the past while actively seeking to establish true freedom and justice for all Arizonans in the present day. We must ensure that all people are given the necessary respect and dignity they deserve as fellow human beings, and that we are all treated equally under the law.

A.) LGBTQIA+ Equality

• Repeal Arizona’s statutory prohibition on same-sex marriages; codify the legal rights, privileges, and protections of same-sex married couples to be equal to those of marriages between persons of the opposite sex.

• Ban the cruel, unusual, and bigoted practice of LGBTQIA+ “conversion therapy” in the State of Arizona.

• Require all K-12 public schools to implement an age-appropriate, science-based, and LGBTQIA+ inclusive sex education curriculum, with the ability for parents and their students to “opt-out” of this curriculum if desired.

• Increase access and affordability of prescription drugs and prophylactics that treat and prevent HIV infections such as condoms, dental dams, PEP, PrEP, and anti-retroviral medications.

• Increase state funding for the creation and maintenance of LGBTQIA+ community centers that provide a safe and affirming space for the LGBTQIA+ community to congregate, socialize, and engage together while also providing essential material and educational resources for those members of the community that are in need.

• Pass a statewide Non-Discrimination Law that outlines and protects the legal rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in healthcare, housing, education, employment, and public life.

• Enhanced penalties for those found guilty of committing anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes; reduce the legal requirements needed to prove anti-LGBTQIA+ bias as a motivating factor in the committing of violent crime.

B.) sex & gender equity

• Mandate equal pay for equal work and ensure that women and femme-identifying individuals are fairly compensated at the same rates as their cisgendered and male peers.

• End any and all forms of employment/hiring discrimination against women and femme-identifying individuals and ensure that hiring decisions are made independent of a potential employee’s sex or gender identity.

• Require that all publicly-owned buildings (schools, community centers, city halls, jails/prisons, government buildings, etc.) provide free menstrual and feminine hygiene products in their restrooms.

• Increase the number of public gender-neutral restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities.

C.) reproductive justice

• Codify and guarantee the unrestricted right to an abortion for all people who can get pregnant in the State of Arizona

• Increase access to and affordability of contraceptives such as condoms, hormonal birth control, levonorgestrel (a.k.a “Plan B/morning after” pills), IUDs, and other forms of voluntary pregnancy prevention.

• Remove any restrictions by physicians on voluntary medical procedures to prevent pregnancy such as tubal ligation and vasectomies.

• Implement an Arizona “Baby Box” initiative which provides new/expecting parents with much needed supplies such as baby clothes, diapers, bibs, thermometers, toys, formula, and other essentials to ensure that all children born in Arizona receive an equal start in life.

• Enshrine the right to access IVF as a legally protected means of achieving pregnancy for all would-be parents.

D.) decolonization & Indigenous Sovereignty

• Recognize and uphold the legal right of Indigenous communities to maintain their sacred religious sites such as Oak Flat, and end the sale and disruption of these sites by extractive industries and other private for-profit entities

• Increase state funding for programs that prioritize and address the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (M.M.I.W.) in the State of Arizona

• Enact an Indigenous Land Tax paid by non-Indigenous land owners in Arizona that supports Indigenous cultural preservation efforts, education, healthcare, and social services

• Create a statewide Land Stewardship Council for the purposes of facilitating the transfer of ownership and management of public lands back to local Indigenous tribes

E.) Reparations & Support for African-Americans

• Create a state government commission to study the economic impact that American chattel slavery and Jim Crow laws had on Arizona’s founding, growth, and development for the purpose of estimating a fair financial figure that would be the target budgetary goal of a plan to pay reparations to Arizona residents who are descended from the victims of slavery.

• Using this estimated financial figure, develop a two-part program, in which:

  1. ) One half of the total budget of this reparations program would be set aside in a state fund that operates much like a public pension, wherein the fund itself serves as a pool of money that is professionally managed and invested to increase returns, and eligible Arizonans would be able to receive a predictable and regular payment from this fund up to and until the point that this fund runs out, at which time the renewal of the program could be revisited.

  2.) The other half of the plan’s budget is to be invested in improving and developing underserved historically Black communities in Arizona by creating and funding various grants, scholarships, fellowships, low-interest business loans, after-school activities, community gardens, and other programs that help uplift Black families, entrepreneurs, artists, tradespeople, and other core pillars of the community by economically empowering them directly.

• Remove all Confederate statues and monuments- which serve only to celebrate the legacy of slavery and the traitorous Confederacy- from all publicly owned properties, replacing them with monuments to figures that play a significant part in African-American history in the State of Arizona (e.g., Elgie Batteau, Veora E. Johnson, Robert and Artie Mae Turner, etc.)

• Develop a commission to analyze and address policy problems that are disproportionately affecting the African-American population in Arizona and to design innovative and feasible government interventions, including but not limited to; maternal mortality rates, medical racism, environmental racism, housing insecurity, food insecurity, unemployment, employment discrimination, addiction, access to contraceptives, access to a quality and affordable education, etc.

F.) Criminal Justice Reform

• Decriminalize the possession and personal use of all drugs; recognize in State Law that drug addiction is a public health issue and not a criminal one.

• Order the immediate release of all non-violent drug offenders from Arizona prisons and ensure the complete and total expungement of these crimes from their criminal records.

• Demilitarize our police departments and end the sale of military grade weaponry and equipment to local police forces.

• End the use of privatized, for-profit prisons in the State of Arizona that are driven by a profit motive to incarcerate the most people possible, and permanently close all privately owned institutions of incarceration.

• Abolish the cash bail system, which is inherently classist and discriminatory to low-income individuals who are accused but not convicted of a crime, and often encourages innocent people to accept a guilty plea rather than remain in jail.

• Require that all AZ cities/towns create an independent and nonpartisan “Citizen’s Police Oversight & Budget Review Board” (C.P.O.B.R.B.) that is responsible for investigating their local police forces for acts of wrongdoing and for recommending punitive action against those Officers and Departments found to be at fault to the Mayor and Councils.

• Mandate that any and all proposed increases in a city/town’s Police Department budget must be presented to the public first in the form of an open community meeting with opportunity for questions and public comment. Then, it must be justified to and approved by majority vote of the C.P.O.B.R.B prior to being voted on by Mayors and City Council members.

G.) secular government

• Ban the use of official government resources (funds, buildings, websites, public media/broadcasts, etc.) for the purpose of promoting a specific religious agenda.

• Prohibit the display of religious iconography in government buildings, except in an educational setting wherein religion is the topic of instruction or is directly relevant to the topic.

• Replace the use of religious books like the Bible, Quran, Torah, etc. with the Arizona State Constitution as the default document for all government “swearing in” ceremonies, and in legal testimonies made under oath.

• End the use of public funds via universal ESA vouchers at private religious schools.

H.) organized labor

• Repeal Arizona’s “right-to-work” laws and promote union membership for all private and public sector workers.

• End “at will employment” in Arizona and require employers to provide advanced and proper notice, as well as justifiable reasoning for terminating an employee.

• Require that “independent contractors” be entitled to the same benefits as official employees

• Mandate pay transparency for all Arizona employers, requiring that salary and benefit information be publicly disclosed for all job applicants and current employees.

I.) tenant’s rights

• Lower the statewide caps on security deposits, application fees, and other administrative costs associated with leasing a home/apartment

• Mandate that tenants be granted the “right of first refusal”, which allows the tenant(s) the first opportunity to purchase the property that they currently reside in if/when the owner notifies the tenant that they intend to sell the property. If there are multiple tenants occupying a multi-family property which is intended to be sold by the owner, these tenants must be afforded the option to collectively purchase and manage the property in the form of a housing cooperative.

• Increase the legal filing fees required for the processing of eviction cases and dedicate the revenue from those fees towards homelessness prevention and rental assistance services.

• Prosecute landlords and rental companies who participated in coordinated price fixing of rental costs in properties throughout Arizona

• Abolish “pet rents” and ban discriminatory prohibitions on pet ownership in rental properties that are solely based on the pet’s breed, weight, temperament, etc.

• Codify the right of tenants to have long-term houseguests stay in the property they are occupying without consultation of the property owner/landlord or addition of the guest to the lease as an additional tenant.

• Guarantee tenants the right to decorate and renovate the property they are currently occupying as they see fit, so long as those changes are a.) reversible, b.) not hazardous to the health/safety of the occupants or the surrounding neighborhood, c.) do not require additional investment on the part of the owner, and d.) comply with all local ordinances and regulations. Upon the end of the lease agreement, and at the request of the property owner, the tenant is responsible for restoring the property to its original condition, or to an otherwise acceptable condition (as determined by the owner).

• Increase the length of time of the required notice for landlords to enter a property currently occupied by a tenant from two days to ten days, not including holidays and weekends.

• Eliminate the provision in AZ Statutes that allows landlords to raise rents with 30 days’ notice if a municipality levies a transaction privilege tax (i.e., a sales tax on rent that is paid by the landlord) on residential rent payments in order to offset the cost of the tax.

• Prohibit the requirement that a prospective tenant must provide proof of income greater than the combined monthly rent and average cost of utilities for the property.

J.) Disability Justice

• Increase disability benefits for those who cannot work as a result of their disability; increase the income caps for those who receive disability benefits, ensuring that those who receive benefits can afford to live without further struggle.

• Ensure that ADA guidelines are adhered to in any new developments and that all public places are adequately accessible to those with disabilities.

• End discrimination in marriage for those with disabilities, which commonly causes those with disabilities who get married to face losing their benefits due to exceeding income caps.

K.) youth Liberation

• Enact a “Children’s Bill of Rights” that recognizes Arizona’s children as autonomous human beings and guarantees their essential legal rights and protections, including but not limited to;

  • The right to safety, security, and adequate care

  • The right to a high-quality public education

  • The right to a habitable environment

  • The right to personal privacy

  • The right to medical autonomy

  • The right to free and equal access to information

  • Freedom from physical punishment

  • Freedom of individual expression

  • The right to religious/spiritual self-determination

  • The right to freely protest their government

• End the State of Arizona’s allowance for and legal recognition of child marriages involving individuals under the age of 18, regardless of parental and/or legal guardian’s consent.

4. we demand An inclusive & grassroots democracy

The capture of our government by corporations, lobbyists, and special interest groups through private campaign donations has resulted in a “pay-to-play” political system wherein the outcome of elections and public policy is routinely decided by the highest bidder, not by what’s best for the people of Arizona. We demand full public financing of our elections and an end to legalized corruption in our government. We demand fundamental reforms to our electoral system to allow for greater participation by all Arizonans. We demand a more directly democratic and accurately representative government. We demand complete transparency and accountability from our elected officials as servants of the public interest. We demand an end to unreasonable and unjust requirements that keep independents and third party candidates off of the ballot, out of the media, and out of the political conversation.

A.) Electoral REform

• Institute ranked-choice/instant runoff voting in all local, county, legislative, statewide, and federal elections; mandate proportional representation with multi-member districts for all legislative offices.

• Automatic voter registration as a “party not designated/no party preference” voter when an individual reaches the age of eligibility to vote or becomes a permanent tax-paying resident of Arizona.

• Automatic enrollment in the Active Early Voter List (AEVL) for newly registered voters upon their initial voter registration, with the ability to “opt-out” of AEVL for those who would rather go to the polls on election day to vote.

• Lower the age of eligibility to vote in municipal, county, legislative, and statewide elections to 16 years old.

• Designate “Election Day” (i.e., the designated Tuesday in November of both midterm and Presidential election years wherein polling places are open and operating) as a statewide holiday.

B.) Party recognition & Ballot Access

• Lower the signature requirements necessary to achieve statewide political party recognition & ballot status from 1.3% to 0.1% of the total votes cast for either President or Governor in the preceding general election.

• Allow for secure online signature gathering through the Secretary of State’s “E-Qual” petitioning system for new political party recognition, referendums, recalls, and citizens’ ballot initiatives.

• Reduce the distinction between statewide and county-level political party recognition by automatically granting county-level recognition and ballot status in all 15 counties to political parties that have newly qualified for statewide party recognition.

• Lower the required percentage of registered voters maintained by a new political party that are necessary to qualify for continuing representation on the ballot from 2/3rds of a percent of registered voters to 1/3rd of a percent.

• Lower and standardize the signature requirements necessary for individual candidate nomination petitions; end unfair and outsized signature requirements for independent candidates and candidates affiliated with parties that are not recognized by the State of Arizona relative to their partisan counterparts.

• Remove the ability of registered Independent and Party Not Designated voters to sign nominating petitions for partisan candidates

• Require that candidates seeking the nomination of a recognized political party in partisan primary elections submit official documentation of the party’s consent for the candidate’s participation in the form of a notarized affidavit signed by the local and/or state party Chairperson.

  C.) Campaign finance reform

• Increase funding for and access to the Arizona Citizen’s Clean Elections Fund and reduce the number of qualifying $5 contributions necessary to be allocated this funding.

• Create a statewide “Democracy Voucher” program that provides all registered AZ voters with vouchers that are redeemable for a modest political donation to the candidate(s) of their choosing.

• Lower the maximum contribution amounts that can be made to political candidates from lobbyists, PACs, unions, and other special interest groups.