AZ Week: Moderation may come to state politics
November 15, 2012
Morrison Institute analysis of election impact and key issues for the 2013 Legislature were included in a panel discussion on Arizona Week, hosted by Michael Chihak:
“You know in the Senate leadership you have Senate Majority leader John McComish, who is a moderate, a very business-minded moderate,” said Joseph Garcia, director of the Latino Public Policy Center at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University.
“He is in a very key role now, whereas the last time he was in the Legislature looking for a position, he couldn’t even get on a committee with Russell Pearce as Senate president,” Garcia said. “It shows a change in the Legislature … So I think there is a moderation when it comes to the Legislature somewhat.”
Political leaders must deal with an ongoing “structural deficit” that will take a balanced approach of tight spending, revenue enhancements and attention to the economy, said policy analyst E.J. Perkins of the Morrison Institute.
Latino voters showed more strength in the election than in the past, but isolating their influence is a mistake, Garcia said: “You can’t separate the Latino issues from the Arizona issues, because they’re one and the same."
