The newly sworn-in Arizona legislature convenes Jan. 14. Here's hoping that our elected representatives don't place as much weight on certain issues that occupied most of their time last year.
I'm not exactly hopeful. Arizona has once again sent a supermajority of Republican representatives and senators to the State Capitol.
Their priorities last session included limiting access to contraceptives, allowing guns on campus, eliminating public school immunization requirements and cutting funding to vital social programs such as Medicaid.
During the 50th legislative session, the majority of state legislators often refrained from listening to concerns of constituents represented by Democrats when drafting bills, debating in committees and voting on the final bills.
Without the classic give and take of a divided government, the voice of the democratic minority was effectively squelched, and our leaders' ability to accurately represent the will of their constituents – namely, Arizona residents – suffered.
In the forthcoming legislature, people should anticipate some of the same in terms of Republican obstinance. The supermajority lives on in both the Arizona House and Senate. Some issues expected to dominate the Legislature in the upcoming session are public safety and public education funding.
Considering the way these leaders have acted in the past, I expect to see more funding for private prisons than for public education.
On the Democratic side of the aisle, public education and Medicaid funding will be paramount.
Arizona may have put its stamp of approval on Republicans in the state, but it seems they chose differently when it comes to their representation in U.S. Congress. Five out of Arizona's nine congressional districts elected Democrats to represent them in Washington – a first for our solidly Republican state.
Some of these new members include Kyrsten Sinema, Ron Barber and Ann Kirkpatrick, all of whom promise to protect Arizona students, seniors and middle-class families.
The relatively even party representation voted into the U.S. House of Representatives moves us closer to seeing change in policies that affect Arizona voters. Although the imperfect political system we have can bring doubt and rancor, I have faith that Arizonans have voted for exactly what they want and know what to expect in the coming months.
When the legislature convenes, we can expect a great amount of drama in the session to come thanks to a loose-cannon Republican supermajority.
Democrats in Congress serving the common interests of Arizona, however, will make their voices heard.
Reach the columnist at peter.northfelt@asu.edu or follow him at @peternorthfelt
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