'Had Enough?' By Mark R. Kerr

So have you had enough of Arizona’s Legislature:

Drafting and enaction inane legislation on such “issues” as botox injections, twins and guns in school classrooms and campuses, ending recess, horse tripping and increased cage fighting;

Reducing or eliminating state funding for relevant programs while continuing or increasing funding for more designer licenses plates and abstinence programs (despite studies showing that it doesn’t work), to name two of many such programs still in existence.

Continuing their legislative session going way over the 100-day, self-set mandate, proudly proclaimed at the beginning of each one by the Republican legislative leadership but never followed, resulting in more tax payers dollars going in to the wallets and purses of the legislators;

Letting such proposals as allowing:

medically accurate information on STD’s and HIV being taught and distributed in the classrooms in Arizona’s schools;

Arizonans the right to be able to work, earn a salary, pay taxes and contribute to society without fear of potential recriminations because of their sex, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity;

citizens of the state, regardless of their gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, race or religion, to be protected by current state law in housing and public accommodation and

misdemeanor offenses to be covered under Arizona’s hate crimes statutes which currently only cover felonies, not to see the light of the legislative day but fast tracking a proposed, state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between “one man and one woman” to be considered by the voters in November, current state law defining marriage as the same and court precedent, and the 2006 vote defeating a previous ballot measure notwithstanding?

As of press time, Arizona’s Legislature with its Republican leadership continues its political, social and economic decimation of the state, resulting in the:

number of foreclosures going through the proverbial roof;

unemployment figures (first time claimants) rising;

rates of personal bankruptcies increasing;

closure of many businesses and

increase in the rise of gas prices, electricity and basic health care and no options for citizens of this state who need help during these very troubled times.

Despite all this, Republicans in the Arizona Legislature claim the cure-all for everything is to just ban same-sex marriage.

So have you had enough already? If so, give what little time or money you may have to people running for the Arizona Legislature this year.

In Legislative District 30, (which voted down the same-sex marriage ban by a 53%-47% margin in 2006) there are two, wonderful, open minded progressive candidates making their first bid for the Arizona House and Senate respectively.

Andrea Dalessandro is running for the Arizona House as a Democrat. Andrea recently closed her accounting business to focus on the race and serving the public. She is a smart, articulate individual who would be a great asset in the Legislature.

Georgette Valle is running for the Arizona Senate as a Democrat and is taking on Republican state Representative Jonathan Paton, one of the sponsor’s of this year’s same-sex marriage ban proposal.

Valle was a former teacher who served in the Washington State Legislature. Knowledgeable, passionate and committed are some of the terms to describe her. She’s one who values all citizens and doesn’t classify them and wouldn’t use anyone as a “wedge issue.”

Andrea’s campaign can be reached at (520) 648-2092, E-mail: Andrea4LD30@gmail.com, Website: andrea4ld30.com. Georgette’s campaign can be reached at (520) 625-9365, E-mail: Valle7@juno.com.

So have you had enough? If so, it will take three seats in the Arizona Senate and four in the Arizona House to change the Legislature.

In future columns, more legislative districts will be featured in which action needs to be taken and it is now up to citizens, regardless of the sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or otherwise to lead.