Alan Wants to be your Citizen Legislator

Why I’m running for State Senate in LD 15

My name is Alan Smith and I am running for the Arizona State Senate in your District 15 including East Mesa, Queen Creek & San Tan Valley.

“VOTE for the candidate who will best represent you, your priorities and Arizona priorities” Alan Smith, Democrat

We all want Arizona to be a safe, welcoming, educated, happy, healthy, progressive state. I want to represent you and your priorities to make this happen. Though we may not agree on all the issues, I will always welcome open discussion so we can do what is best for Arizona.

Before deciding to run for office I was enjoying my retirement after a 38 year career as an insurance auditor. I had started volunteering one day per week as a teacher aide at a Mesa elementary public school. I also joined the board of Walking Down Ranch, a 501c3 non-profit in Lakeside AZ assisting homeless veterans with transitional housing, food, clothing, benefits assistance and counseling. My past volunteer services include: Boy Scout Scoutmaster, coaching youth basketball & baseball, Jaycee officer of the year, President of local & regional auditor’s associations and VP of national audit association. I strongly believe in giving back to the community. When I retire from public service I want to leave Arizona much better than I find it today.

Being an auditor, I know my way around a financial statement. I plan to be a “fiscal conservative.” I am conservative in my own budget and will do the same in the legislature.

These are some of the Arizona Priorities I want to change or improve:

Fully funding our public schools, community colleges and state universities. Over 90% of our children attend public schools which are among the worst funded in the US.
Stop universal vouchers that are sending taxpayer money to private schools. We have spent $700 Million on this program subsidizing the rich. It is a fake school choice issue if the remaining tuition, after the voucher, is not possible on a family’s income.
Women’s Rights and especially, Women’s Reproductive Rights. When to have a family and whether or not to carry a child to full term is a woman’s choice. Women’s lives matter.
Common Sense gun & weapon legislation. Republicans won’t even ban brass knuckles.
Continue use of early and mail-in voting. Continue using vote tabulators. Voting only on election day and hand counting them would create absolute chaos.
Water use must be measured and used appropriately. Our aquifers are being depleted, wells are running dry and the ground is cracking and collapsing. Corporate farms will just leave the state when the water is gone or the salt accumulation ruins the soil.
Invest in infrastructure. Arizona is aging and growing. Our highways, electrical grid, water distribution, mass transit, etc. will all need to be properly maintained and improved upon.
Clean energy. Our state alone could power the entire Southwest United States using our abundant solar at a lower economical cost than fossil fuel power plants. The human cost from green house emissions is enormous as the seas rise, tornadoes and hurricanes become stronger, jet streams become more unpredictable, Arizona becomes hotter and polluted air affects our breathing.
State parks need our love. The lottery, as passed by the voters, was supposed to provide a steady source of $20 million in revenue per year for them. The legislature has stolen $10 Million annually of this for the past 13 years for use in the general fund. Reinstate this funding now.
Taxes and the budget. Our former governor and the current legislature has left AZ in a huge bind. The recent flat tax they passed, with little or no analysis at the last minute of the legislative session, is pushing AZ towards massive budget cuts. It was easy for them to cut taxes as it takes a 50% vote plus one, while increasing taxes will take a 2/3 majority of the legislature or a citizens initiative needing a 60% yes vote. Before this action, AZ had a $2 billion dollar surplus. This surplus is all gone and we are now looking at a $1.5 billion shortfall. This $3.5 billion “oops” by those in charge will handcuff AZ for years and decades to come as AZ continues to age and grow.

These core priorities will shape the decisions I make as your state senator. My opponent, Jake Hoffman, is against all of these priorities. He is only special interest focused: He is for universal vouchers for private schools, wants to ban all birth control and make all abortions illegal with no exceptions. He is also against early and mail-in voting, wants a hand count, is 100% NRA and opposes water Active Management Areas.

Vote for Alan Smith for State Senate in LD 15.
Alan will be your Citizen Legislator working for you.

Note: LD 15 boundaries are South of Highway 60 and East of Power Rd and includes East Mesa, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley.