Arizona House speaker: State lawmakers to prioritize school choice, public safety, economy

PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers are set to prioritize economic issues, public safety and school choice, according to House Speaker Steve Montenegro.

“First of all, we’re going to be focusing on preserving the American dream,” Montenegro told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday. “We want to make sure that every Arizona has the opportunity to financially prosper.”

His strategy to achieving this is to minimize government spending.

“We’ve been fighting for strong economy and sound budgets,” Montenegro said.

He also said he hopes the Republican conservative majority will improve the state budget and improve Arizona’s financial outlook.

Steve Montenegro, new Arizona House speaker, talks public safety

The second top priority for Republicans in Arizona’s House is public safety, especially when it comes to the border.

“There’s a fentanyl crisis, there’s a border crisis and we want safe communities,” Montenegro said. “From your front door, to the border, we want our kids to be safe in our front yards, in our neighborhoods, in our streets.”

He also said there’s a wave of crime across the nation that’s hitting Arizona and other states.

“One of the bills we had last year that was actually vetoed by the governor was to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations,” Montenegro said.

However, he said there’s more to do — and the Republican caucus plans to sit down with sheriffs and law enforcement leaders to draft actionable plans.

What does Steve Montenegro say about school choice in Arizona?

Montenegro also said he wants to improve the state of public education in Arizona.

“We’ve got different bills, we’ve got different efforts going on right now when it comes to education,” Montenegro said. “We have actually increased pay for teachers.”

However, increasing pay isn’t always a simple solution, he said.

“The problem seems to be that it doesn’t necessarily always make it to the classroom, doesn’t make it to the teacher,” Montenegro said. “That’s one of the things that our chairman of education is looking at right now.”

The Arizona House Education Committee is also looking into this issue, he said.

“How can we ensure that teachers are the ones that are receiving the raises, and that kids are the ones that are benefiting from this?” Montenegro said.

Furthermore, pushing for school choice is another goal he has. It represents his desire to protect individual rights and liberties in Arizona.

“We’re talking about protect parental rights, medical freedom, school choice, making sure that moms and dads have what they need to provide for their kids, and making sure that every Arizonan, every Arizonan has the opportunity to be free,” Montenegro said.