LD29 debate recap

Democrats running for the state Senate and House in a solid Republican West Valley district said on Aug. 25 that school vouchers siphon money from public education, developers should listen to communities before deciding where to locate data centers and communities have a moral obligation to see immigration detention centers are safe.

The candidates also presented their positions on water conservation and affordability in an interview that was scheduled as a debate with the Republican slate of Rep. Steve Montenegro, Rep. James Taylor and Sen. Janae Shamp, who declined their invitations.

Voters in Legislative District 29 will elect two candidates to the House and one to the Senate on Nov. 3. Early ballots go out Oct. 7.

The district stretches from the Yavapai County border to the I-10 and Loop 303 interchange and includes Litchfield Park, Surprise, El Mirage, Wittman and parts of Glendale, Goodyear and Peoria.

Following are excerpts of Democratic House candidate Christine Scianna, who’s making her first run for office after years of activism at the Legislature, and Democratic Senate candidate Eric Stafford, who’s making his second run to represent the district.

Answers have been edited for length.

Scianna

Data centers are becoming one of the most contentious development issues in Arizona. Where do you stand on their continued growth, and how should the state balance their economic benefits with opposition from communities that don’t want them nearby?

I think both parties kind of agree that they’re concerned about these data centers.

I’m concerned about the impact on water, the impact on the environment, the noise that it’s going to cause. We haven’t looked at overall what kind of damage it could do. And it would make sense to have a data center out somewhere where it’s not in the middle of a neighborhood, like the one that’s being proposed in Surprise. That one would be literally in people’s backyards, their backyards would be up against it.

I’m not completely against them, you know. … I feel like a lot of people are frustrated because they didn’t know — all of a sudden the land’s bought and the data centers are being put in and they had no input.

Do you think that is something this state should regulate, or should that be left up to local cities and counties?

Yeah, I think the Legislature should regulate it.

What do you see as the biggest affordability issue facing families in your district, and what specific policies would you push for at the legislature to make life more affordable?

Rent has gone up significantly. I believe it’s tripled since 2016. I know it’s gone up significantly, and just to have an apartment is around $2,000. It’s making it almost impossible for young people and single parents to be able to afford to live.

In Surprise, I do know some areas were not happy with the idea that (affordable housing) could be near their area because they see it as lower income housing. So there’s concerns from residents that it’ll bring down their values, and they’re asking them to be put in a different place. We need to look at all factors, though.

I mean, there is going to be some pushback, but at the same time, we do need to look at alternatives because the housing market’s out of control.

Arizona’s universal ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Account) program has grown dramatically since lawmakers opened it to every student. What, if anything, would you change about the program, and how should lawmakers account for its future costs when they’re writing the state budget?

I know some of the people in the disabled community don’t like to call them vouchers because they say vouchers are illegal. But that’s what they basically have become.

The ESA program started in 2011. It was for the disabled community and lower economic areas. That makes sense. My daughter actually qualified for an ESA voucher. We did not end up using it, but she qualified. I saw nothing wrong with that, but when (former Gov. Doug) Ducey opened it up to everyone in 2022, I believe Save Our Schools said more than 60% of the people that started taking advantage of those ESA vouchers were already in private schools. They had never been in public schools, and so I see ESA is taking away from public education.

I’m not completely against the ESA program, but I do not think it should be used for private schooling, for just ordinary people.

Stafford

First up, let’s talk about water. Arizona continues to face questions about its long-term water supply as the state grows. What should the Legislature do to ensure there’s enough water for existing residents and future development?

I think the last major water bill that was passed in Arizona, I think, was like in the 1980s. So we definitely need to reevaluate the way that we are consuming our water. One issue that we’re not seeing at a statewide level is there are certain water districts, like in the center of Maricopa County and in other populated areas, where the water is being regulated.

But there are large swaths of open land out there where a private company, like the the Saudi Arabia company is a good example,..You can plop down a well in the middle of nowhere and you can just pump as much water as they want unregulated. And it just seems like, in a desert where we are completely running out of water, we have so many farms that aren’t using sustainable agricultural practices, pumping unlimited water, and there’s not a lot of rules in place to make sure that it’s being done responsibly.

What do you think the legislature should do to increase funding and resources for Arizona public schools? And please be specific.

It’s really hard in Arizona to raise taxes. It’s borderline impossible on purpose.

Another thing that we’re seeing a lot of, and that I’m sure people have heard a ton about, is the the ESA school voucher program. This is not a program that did anything to raise taxes, but what it’s doing is funneling $1.1 billion away from our public schools, which 90% of kids use our public school system.

And there’s just doesn’t seem like there is a lot of safeguards in place to treat this more responsibly. Some of these ESA schools are not being audited. their money can be spent in whichever way they like. The teachers who teach at these schools, they’re not mandated to have fingerprint clearance cards or background checks. They can be anybody off the street.

A federal immigration detention facility has been proposed in Surprise near Dysart High School. Should the state have any role in where federal detention facilities are located, and what should that process look like in your view?

The difficulty with this topic is a lot of the immigration issues are a federal thing, so I don’t know how much we can do at the local legislative level. But from a morality standpoint … There’s no consideration for how are these people who are being detained are being treated while in these facilities, because we have a track record in Arizona of all of these facilities being dangerous.