Issue Position: Building a Better Business Climate

Issue Position

In the late 1990s I had the privilege to work for a little known Texas Lieutenant Governor who brought high technology executives together to find out what a more hospitable business environment would look like for the high tech sector in the State of Texas. It turns out strong schools, reducing the regulatory burdens, and a low tax environment were part of the recipe for encouraging and spurring growth.

Arizona can easily replicate Texas' successes. Arizona needs to become a stronger player in advocating to businesses reasons why they should move their corporate offices to Arizona. Arizona should also build a relationship with Mexico to invest in a port of entry to help with our state's commerce. We have seen from the success in Texas that our regulatory policies need to be rolled back to move towards a free, civil society. Excessive regulations stifle our progress and limits consumer choice.

The recipe to strong free enterprise is a tax system that taxes all consumed income once at the flattest rate. The government should not be picking winners and losers in the marketplace, or setting economic policies that will help one business over another. Our small businesses are the backbone of our economy. We need a level playing field to help all businesses survive. I will advocate on behalf of our small businesses to ensure the marketplace remains as fair to the future of their success.

Prospective businesses need to know that Arizona's charter schools are competing against some of our global counterparts and coming out on top. The best part: charter schools are free and their employee's children can receive a world class education competitive to a private school education. Our weather is hands-down hospitable to outdoor activity a majority of the year. Who doesn't want to traverse parts of the Grand Canyon on a weekend outing when other parts of the country are scraping ice off their windshield?

I also believe in expanding energy production and rolling back unnecessary regulations in order to explore and drill on Arizona soil. Arizona's sunshine is a valuable resource, but so is the Navajo Generating Station. An energy policy in a free market without government intervention expands all coal, oil, wind, nuclear, solar, and natural gas energy production without picking winners or losers.

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