Arizona governor lays out plans for last year in office
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) delivering his 2022 state of the state address Monday afternoon all part of opening day at the Arizona State Capitol.
It’s the governor’s eighth and final state of the state address.
He tackled creating more jobs, border security, and keeping students in school.
“Get in and get the job done. And as I stand here today, the job isn’t done,” said Ducey.
Border security tops the governor’s list of things he wants to focus on during his last year in office.
“Our budget will make significant new investments to strengthen the border strike force,” he explained.
Ducey, who has blamed the current White House administration for the border crisis, did not hold back on holding them responsible.
“Our Southern border has never been more deadly or more dangerous. Meanwhile, the White House and Congress have decided to turn a blind eye,” he said.
RELATED: Governor Ducey addresses border security
The governor also hinted at plans of border wall construction.
“The wall and physical barriers they work. Representatives Joanne Osborne and Tim Dunn and senator Sine Kerr were with me in Yuma just a few weeks ago and we saw it firsthand,” Gov. Ducey added.
He called on senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema to not vote on any federal legislation until the Biden administration does more to improve border security.
Ducey laid out a historic water investment plan.
Yuma representative Tim Dunn says it’ll allow for more water to come to Yuma County.
“That's a big deal, a billion dollars. We have $2.5 billion estimated in surplus revenues and so it'd be putting a billion dollars there. So I think that's big for Yuma County as far as keeping the greater Phoenix and metropolitan areas trying to come for Yuma's water,” Dunn explained.
Ducey highlighted education announcing Summer learning camps in an effort to catch students up from the lost learning during the pandemic.
He’s also calling on lawmakers to draft up more legislation to allow parents to see all curriculum taught in schools.
“Parents deserve respect and the occasional parent-teacher conference isn't enough. It's 2022. We've got the technology,” Ducey said.
Senate Democratic leader Rebecca Rios responded to Ducey's address by saying nearly one point two billion dollars could be cut from public schools if the legislature does not work to pass a bipartisan resolution, before March 1st.
