(THE ISSUES)
AL MELVIN FOR
AL MELVIN will fight for:
· SECURE BORDERS: Whether your primary concern is national security, eliminating wasteful spending, improving education, relieving overcrowding in our jails and hospitals, or fighting crime, the most important thing that we can do is to secure our borders. The cost of illegal immigration to our state is nearly $2 Billion every year and you, the taxpayer, are paying the bill. We must eliminate sanctuary city policies that encourage illegal aliens to come to Arizona and we must ensure that only those in the country legally are receiving government benefits.
· A QUALITY EDUCATION SYSTEM: The greatest indicator of someone’s future success is the quality of education they have received. As such, we have an obligation to give our children the very best education that we can. Unfortunately, our public school system is failing to do its job and it is failing our children. Whether because of a lack of competition or because of waste in a system that spends less than 60% of every dollar in the classroom, our schools are not getting the job done. It is not the fault of teachers, but rather politicians and their bureaucratic allies who put unions and administrators ahead of students. Unless we fix this broken system, we will not be able to compete in the world and improve our standard of living and quality of life. We need to better educate our students and give merit pay and other incentives to our better teachers.
· LOWER TAXES & SMALLER GOVERNMENT: Our State’s budget has ballooned more than 62% over the last five years, a fantastic sum that is much greater than needed to account for inflation and increases in our population. Governor Napolitano and big-spending legislators have forgotten how to say “No!” to the lobbyists and special interests who come to the state with their hands out. Now we face a budget shortfall of nearly $1 Billion and their solution is to raid the Rainy Day Fund and borrow hundreds of millions of dollars, increasing the debt burden for years to come. As always, they will refuse to cut out the waste or postpone programs that are luxury items. Enough is enough. We need to refocus on those programs that serve vital interests and get government back to doing those things that only government can do. Instead of borrowing, we must cut spending on wasteful or luxury items to balance our budget.
· SECOND AMENDMENT & PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS: We must always protect the Constitutional rights of our citizens. I am an unabashed supporter of our right to keep and bear arms and was proud to support the 2006 effort to protect private property rights from abuse of eminent domain laws.
· CULTURE OF LIFE, FAMILY AND TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE: I am pro-life and a strong supporter of pro-family efforts. Whatever your position on particular issues, I hope that we all agree that the decisions we make as a state are done with the best interests of families and children at heart.
· ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Whether it is the quality of our air and water, our utility generation, or issues that relate to growth, dust, and pollution, we must find a reasonable balance that protects our environment and our state. Whenever possible, we must design and allow free-market solutions to fix these problems, reserving the heavy hand of government regulation for only the most desperate of situations.
· IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: For too long, Maricopa County has gotten more than its share of transportation and infrastructure dollars. I will fight to ensure that Southern Arizona will get its fair share of these precious dollars. We pay our fair share of the taxes and we deserve equal treatment when it comes to providing for our citizens.