Arizona state Senate leader says Democrats will ‘be able to deliver’ with control of both chambers

Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan, expected to become majority leader in January, said Democratic control of both legislative chambers will let her party deliver on issues with bipartisan support.

Among the issues the lawmaker plans on addressing are rising costs, protecting the state’s water in the face of Colorado River cuts, investing in education and putting guardrails on the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

“We have been ready to go at the beginning of this year with a set of legislation addressing those issues,” Sundareshan told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “Unfortunately, it was held up in the extreme governance that the Republicans held over the legislature. But we these are things that we know the vast majority of Arizonans want to see and we’re excited to deliver on that.”

Sundareshan said the ESA program was created to serve students with disabilities, and she blamed its expansion to universal vouchers for fraud and waste. She said Democrats have discussed ways to rein in abuse, including setting limits on who qualifies.

The lawmaker also noted there are also a lot bipartisan concerns surrounding data centers that need to be resolved.

“Voters want to see the Legislature coming and saying, ‘Look, we need to put some responsible requirements on data center so that they’re not providing that scary feeling that voters are seeing,'” Sundareshan said.

Sundareshan explained that once she is Senate Majority Leader, she is going to get a full grasp of the rules and order of operations before making any changes.

“I want to make sure that we are going deliberately, looking at the rules, coming into a new governing stance and really understanding it,” Sundareshan said. “At the sane time, we want to to make sure that we are reflecting the entire state. There are so many great ideas on water, on education, one reducing costs that have not gotten a chance to be hear because they were Democratic bills, and I want those bills to come forward because those are addressing the needs of everyone in the state.”

She added that while there’s a backlog of bills to get through, if Republicans have great ideas she will ensure they get seen by committee chairs.

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