ECOlogy & Sustainability
The science is clear; greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other pollutants caused by human activities are responsible for global warming, the disruption of our ecosystems, and losses in biodiversity.
We need a radical Green transformation of all sectors of our state’s economy and a Just Transition for workers employed in ecologically damaging industries through a Green New Deal for AZ.
We must drastically reduce our emissions, replace our use of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, conserve our potable water supply, incentivize sustainable practices in industry, and mitigate/adapt to the worsening effects of the climate crisis in order to ensure long-term sustainability and quality of life for our citizens.
Housing & development
Housing in Arizona has become increasingly unaffordable and scarce in supply for those who need it the most, particularly for young people, seniors, BIPOC communities, minimum wage workers, and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Meanwhile, corporate developers and landlords have continued to rake in record-breaking profits while displacing long-time residents and driving urban/suburban sprawl that has decimated our environment.
We must reform our zoning and land use policies in order to allow for more density, variety, and affordability in housing with a focus on developing walkable, mixed-use, multifamily developments rather than more detached single family housing, which has resulted in unsustainable sprawl and ecological degradation. Further, we must adopt a statewide “housing first” model to ensure that those who are currently unhoused are not left to struggle and suffer on the streets.
We must have the political courage to stand up to wealthy landlords, out-of-state investors, and predatory developers by ensuring that quality, affordable housing is guaranteed to all Arizonans as a human right.
Crime & Public Safety
We all deserve to live in a State that prioritizes our safety. However, the safest communities are not those that are the most policed or who imprison the most people; they are those with the most resources, opportunities, and social support readily available to their citizens- particularly those who are the most at risk of both committing and becoming the victims of crime.
If we want to prevent crime proactively and ensure that Arizona remains a safe place to live, we must reinvest public funds that have been wasted on incarcerating non-violent offenders, privatizing our prisons, and militarizing our police forces. Instead, we must focus those resources towards community-based, non-carceral approaches to crime, as well as supporting new and existing public welfare initiatives that help to address the issue of crime at its root cause of socio-economic inequality.
social Justice & equal opportunity
Arizona is a diverse State with citizens of many different races, ethnicities, nationalities, ages, genders, orientations, abilities, backgrounds, and belief systems. As such, it is imperative that the voices that speak for and make decisions for the people of Arizona accurately represent the diversity of origins, experiences, and beliefs that exist here.
We must embrace diversity as one of Arizona’s greatest strengths rather than reject it, and ensure that our State is equitable and inclusive of all peoples so that all of us- no matter who we are- are afforded both fair treatment and equal rights, opportunities, and protections under the law.
Public & Personal TransIt
The fossil fuel industry in combination with the automotive industry have used their wealth and influence over several decades to create a nationwide standard for transportation infrastructure that prioritizes personal automobile use over safer and more sustainable alternatives like public transit, walking, and cycling.
We need to instead incentivize and invest in alternatives to driving, expand our public transportation and rail networks, increase our electric vehicle capacity, and transform our transportation infrastructure to ensure safety, ease, and accessibility of mobility throughout Arizona for all citizens- not just those who drive.
Community Health & Wellness
Healthcare is a human right that must be provided to all peoples, and both preserving and promoting the collective health and well-being of our citizens is of the utmost importance. From the Covid-19 pandemic, to drug & alcohol addiction, to the crises of mental health issues, to the overwhelming cost of prescription drugs and preventative care; Arizona is in need of strong public health supports that provide resources, education, and quality care without social stigmatization, criminalization, or economic devastation.
We must adopt a compassionate and scientifically informed approach to managing public health to protect and support the most vulnerable among us. Further, we must ensure that no individual is forced to go without the medical care they need due to lack of insurance or the prohibitive costs of healthcare.
Education
The importance of supporting and developing the next generations of Arizona’s lifelong learners cannot be overstated. We must commit to providing our students, school staff, and educators with all of the resources and community support they need to be safe, healthy, and successful, and we must ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive a high quality K-12 public education.
Further, we must provide access to educational opportunities for all Arizonans who wish to continue their learning outside of the K-12 education system by making our State’s public colleges & universities tuition-free.
Grassroots democracy
Our democracy is under attack at every level from those who benefit from limiting or obstructing our ability to vote for the policies, candidates, and political parties that we support. Additionally, the capture of our government by corporations, lobbyists, super PACs, and special interest groups has created a political system based on back-door dealings and blatant corruption.
We must not only strongly defend our current democratic systems, but also expand and re-conceptualize our ideas of democracy to be as free, fair, grassroots, inclusive, and truly representational of the voting public as possible. All candidates and political parties in Arizona should be equally funded with public dollars and included on the ballot, in the debates, and in public media coverage.
The economy should work for us- not the other way around. As a matter of right, all workers deserve to have stable and respectable employment, the right to organize and bargain collectively, a wage they and their families can live on, and benefits they can fall back on in times of illness, injury, pregnancy, bereavement, and retirement.
We need to fight the multi-national corporate takeover of our economy, and instead reinvigorate our locally-owned small business community. We must also incentivize new and existing businesses to adopt models of worker-ownership and cooperative decision making in their company structures to give workers and their families a greater say in Arizona’s economy than out-of-state billionaires and CEO's.
Economics & Business
Privatization has gradually creeped into a significant portion of our daily lives, to the point where many basic aspects of simply living and existing in our communities have become a way for private corporations to extract profits from working people.
We must fight back against the ever-encroaching privatization of commonly-held resources by preserving and expanding the parts of the public commons that currently exist like libraries, parks, and community centers; as well as developing new community resources and locations that are publicly-owned, free to utilize, welcoming, safe, and accessible to all.