It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the news cycle and all the issues that need fixing: reproductive rights, poverty, housing, water, gun violence prevention, school funding, etc. The solution in my view is to focus on local politics where we all can have the most influence. Because there are elected officials with good ideas on how to start addressing these problems, many of whom were AZ NOW PAC endorsed candidates in 2022.
This past week was the opening day of the Arizona legislature. I joined Moms Demand Action and Arizonans for Gun Safety at 10 AM on opening day to show support for gun violence prevention. While the speakers were reminding us that it was 13 years to the day that the shooting at the Gabby Giffords event had occurred, I saw a number of legislators standing in solidarity with us. These are often the same legislators who show up to events supporting the ERA and even to NOW meetings.
These legislators introduce bills with reasonable solutions every session, but unfortunately, they are in the minority, so these bills don’t get added to committee agendas, and so, don’t even get the dignity of a conversation. Until we elect a majority of progressive legislators, the most important thing we can do is be informed about state and local politics. More awareness by the general public could help generate the necessary political pressure to get these bills heard.
So how can people who care stay informed and get involved without being overwhelmed by all the competing priorities in life?
The first step is connecting with people who have similar values and goals. To that end, we recommend attending the AZ NOW legislative monthly meetings to hear what is happening at the AZ legislature with a focus on women’s issues.
And, if you haven’t already done so, we recommend signing up for The Weekly update from Civic Engagement Beyond Voting to stay aware of the bills moving through the AZ legislature. And consider attending their virtual “Happy Hours” at 4 PM on Sundays.
Another great resource for staying up to date on Arizona specific news is the Arizona Agenda on Substack. It is not only informative, but also entertaining. It usually arrives in my email inbox just in time for me to read it with my morning coffee.
Doing just those three things will make you so much more informed than the average Arizonan about local politics.
But if you want more, you can learn how to use the Request to Speak (RTS) system. Despite the name, it is used for more than just signing up to speak at a committee hearing. It is also a place to digitally enter your position on the bills scheduled to be heard by committees and to enter written comments. You can sign up for an RTS account through CEBV here. CEBV also has tutorials on how to use RTS both on their webpage and during regularly scheduled virtual events.
If you want to witness government up close and in person, you can head over to the azleg.gov website and look at the calendar of Capitol events. This is where you’ll find all the advocacy days happening at the AZ Capitol. For example, the Equal Rights Amendment Press Conference is happening Jan 25 at 8:30 AM.
You’ll also see when the various legislative committees are meeting on the calendar, which are usually open to the public. It can be eye-opening to attend a committee hearing and see our legislators in action.
Legislative Deadlines this Session
Monday, 2/5 Last day for legislators to introduce bills for this session
Friday, 2/16 Last day for a bill to exit committees in its originating house
Friday, 3/22 Last day for a bill to exit committees in its crossover house
Tuesday, 4/16 100th Day of Session
Leave a Reply