Your Every Question Answered: Advocacy Toolkit (AAUW National)
AZ ESA Vouchers –Available to Everyone, Regardless of Income
Gov. Hobbs recently stated, “The best way to ensure we have a strong, thriving economy is by acting decisively to support our public K-12 schools.”
AAUW supports equity in education. One way to support equity in education would be to advocate modifying the ESA voucher program in AZ. According to Save Our Schools Arizona, while exact data on who uses ESA vouchers is challenging to obtain due to the program’s total lack of transparency, the scant data available to taxpayers paints a clear picture: many
vouchers go to the wealthiest zip codes in Arizona. Multiple analyses have found a clear
correlation: for any given zip code, the higher the household income, the more families
use vouchers.
Gov. Hobbs proposed an income cap and sliding scale for the ESA voucher program. It is estimated that her program could save taxpayers $150 million per year. Click on the link below and let your legislators know how you feel about the way ESA vouchers are managed in AZ. Other states have voucher programs that are income based. Why doesn’t AZ use these states’ plans as its model?
https://sosarizona.org/email-your-lawmakers/
Communicating with Arizona State Legislators
FREE and Easy Power at Our Fingertips
AAUW offers us a super easy and painless way to let our national representatives know our wishes on key legislative issues.
All you need to do is register with AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist. It’s free! You simply enter your zip code and the website will automatically load the addresses for your representatives in both houses of Congress. Then periodically via e-mail, you will be notified about upcoming key votes.
To make the process still easier, a script is provided. You are able to freely edit the copy, picking and choosing your message as well as adding your own words if you wish. You can preview the copy before the email is sent and receive conformation. The whole process takes only minutes and your communication has a multiplying impact in Washington. You will also be informed when your representative plans a town meeting in our community. AAUW also shares some tips in effective techniques to use when communicating in person.
This website is one way that your national dues directly benefit the individual member. So no more excuses about not having the time or the information necessary to influence public policy. There’s great power at your fingertips! Let’s get all the members of our branch connected and exercise our voices.
For general information about happenings in our Capitol and around the country, Sign up for Washington Update,
AAUW’s free member-only weekly e-bulletin. It offers an insider’s view on the legislative process, the latest policy news, re-sources for advocate, programming ideas, and up-dates from the Public Policy & Government Relations Department. It is so simple.
Register to Speak Program
The Request To Speak program (RTS) is designed to allow the public to register an opinion on bills listed on agendas and to request to speak on a bill in a committee. It replaces the old slips of paper previously used to sign in and let the committee chairperson know you want to speak to the committee. Learn how to get involved with the Arizona State Legislature here.