Local politics shape national change. Many now-landmark federal policies, like women’s suffrage, minimum wage, environmental protection, and marriage equality, all started at the local level.
Our state can lead the way when the feds don’t. When there is gridlock in DC, state governments hold the reins on school funding, public health, transportation, water policy and more.
State lawmakers are more accessible. Each of Arizona’s federal senators represents the entire state, about 7 million people. Your state senator, by contrast, represents 200,000 people.
State laws directly touch our daily lives in dozens of ways. From the city parks we enjoy to the roads we travel, from the water we drink to the schools our children attend, from the cost of housing to the cost of college, the vast majority of laws that affect our daily lives are not federal, but state laws.
It’s easier to stop bad policies locally. Just like good policies can start at the local or state level and grow, stopping bad policies is considerably easier – and just as necessary.
Arizona’s Constitution protects us. We the People have power: the right to overturn bad laws through public vote, the right to recall lawmakers who aren’t serving us, and the right to make our own laws via initiative. “All political power is inherent in the people”
