PHOENIX — A coalition of Arizona community groups rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday to push lawmakers for solutions to high costs for housing, food and health care.
Members of Fuerte Art Collective; Opportunity Arizona; Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona; and Arizona Center for Empowerment criticized policies they say prioritize corporations and billionaires over everyday people.
“It’s time for lawmakers to stop protecting billionaires and start investing in Arizona families,” Eileen Halladay of Opportunity Arizona said.
Halladay said she’s working to rebuild after she drained her savings during a serious illness while laid off.
“I am very fed up,” she said. “I’m fed up with a system where people like me, who work, who pay taxes, who do everything we’re told to do, are left struggling.”
Republican lawmakers, who have majorities in both chambers, say affordability is one of their top priorities.
“We are very much interested in addressing the cost of living for Arizona families, whether it’s, you know, the kitchen-table issues, rent, what have you,” state Rep. Matt Gress told ABC15.
In recent years, Arizona has banned taxes on rent, he said, and tried to ban sales taxes on groceries, a bill Hobbs vetoed in 2023.
And this session, lawmakers are considering a bill to change Arizona’s gasoline standards, Gress said.
“We have a boutique blend of gasoline that only Arizona has in the entire country,” he said. “We’ve known that it’s not really impacting pollution, but we’re paying an arm and leg for it.”
The two dozen organizations that make up the People First Economy Coalition are calling for legislation like paid family leave, price-gouging protections, expanded access to food assistance, an end to tax breaks for data centers, and a higher tax on large sportsbooks proposed by Gov. Katie Hobbs.
But three months into the legislative session, lawmakers aren’t considering any of those bills.
“Unfortunately, the majority party has made a conscious choice, year in and year out, to not prioritize those solutions,” said Stephanie Maldonado, Arizona Center for Empowerment political director.
ACE has annually proposed legislation for paid family medical leave for about seven years, but the proposal has never even gotten a committee hearing, she said. But Maldonado said they will keep fighting for it.
“That just means that we need to continue showing up,” she said. “We need to continue advocating, and we need to continue reminding lawmakers at the Arizona State Capitol that people are watching them, and they are going to hold them accountable, either in these chambers or in their own communities.”
Every seat in the Legislature is up for election this year, and Maldonado says the November election will be critical.
“If people are fired up and tired of what is happening, we need to show up and vote. … Not voting is still voting,” she said.
