First Blog for NancyforAZ

Hello Everyone, 

 I hope you all are staying healthy and have had a great start to 2022. In an effort to get to know LD9 folks, I decided to send a weekly email with my thoughts on issues and some short videos. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. I am committed to winning a seat in the Arizona State House and being a voice for our community. It has been a pleasure canvassing neighborhoods and getting to know many of you. I appreciate how enthusiastic and supportive everyone has been. 

 We must work together to elect strong Democratic candidates who will fight for what is right. Some of the bills that I have seen are just terrible and scary. I've been on the Request to Speak system voicing my opinions on these bills. I've also been emailing committee members asking them to vote yes or no on the latest bills. Perhaps, the most important issue right now for public schools is for the Legislature to raise the Aggregate Spending Limit. If they do not raise this limit with a 2/3 vote by March 1, our Arizona public schools will lose $1.2 billion immediately. This is money that has already been budgeted for this school year. This will result in layoffs, larger classroom sizes, loss of valuable programs and even school closures. 

 I urge everyone to contact all of the current Legislators by phone, email and social media and make sure they know that the people of Arizona want that budgeted money to go to the schools. Some of the No votes that I have spoken against include: 

HB2112, sponsored by Michelle Udall (R-25), would ban teaching controversial topics in schools. Teachers could be disciplined up to losing their license, and school districts would face penalties of up to $5,000 

SB1123 would force Arizona community colleges and universities to allow permit holders to carry concealed guns on campuses. 

 SB1011, sponsored by Kelly Townsend (R-16), would ban school districts from using tax dollars to pay for membership in a state or national school board association. These associations provide valuable training, leadership and other services to nearly all school boards (240 in Arizona alone) 

 SB1165, sponsored by Nancy Barto (R-15), is a reprise of the 2020 and 2021 bills to bar transgender girls from women's sports at public and private schools, community colleges and state universities. 

 One of the Yes votes that I have requested include: HB2230 would create a grant program for OB/GYNs who want to set up a group prenatal program at their practice. This would be a great boon to pregnant women and new mothers. 

 Here is a link to an interview that I did with Michael Bryan of BlogforArizona: https://blogforarizona.net/in-conversation-with-ld-9-az-state-house-candidate-nacy-gutierrez/ 

 I've attached my first short video that I will post weekly on social media. I hope these videos help you get to know me. 

 You can also find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancyforaz 

Website: https://www.nancyforaz.com 

 If you haven't signed my petition, I'd appreciate you doing so: https://go.azsos.gov/rmlg 

 I look forward to seeing you at the next LD9 meeting on zoom on Tuesday, January 25. Sincerely, Nancy Gutierrez