MEDIA RELEASE:
May 1, 2023
TUCSON CITIZENS LAUNCH EFFORT TO RECALL SENATOR JUSTINE WADSACK
Phoenix, AZ – Statement for immediate release:
“On May 8, 2023, we officially file paperwork to recall Senator Justine Wadsack (R-LD17) from elected office. We represent a grassroots group of citizens from the greater Tucson area who are concerned that Senator Wadsack does not represent the best interests of her constituents in Legislative District 17, nor the State of Arizona. She has been unavailable and unprofessional in her official conduct. Senator Wadsack has refused to meet with or truly listen to constituents who hold different viewpoints, dismissing them as “liberal activists” on social media.
Wadsack boasts of her prolific lawmaking, sponsoring fifty-two bills and resolutions, and cosponsoring an additional eighty-two. Do not mistake quantity for quality; her poorly-conceived and draconian bills tread on civil rights and target marginalized communities in our state.
Senator Wadsack is attacking and dismantling long-standing Arizona institutions. Attorneys across party lines have railed against her attempt to undermine the Arizona State Bar by dropping the requirement that attorneys license with the Bar. Republican leaders also voted against Wadsack’s constitutional amendment to repeal city charters, which would take away a city’s right to determine its own policy. The blind and deaf community is still reeling from the proposal to open the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind – which has operated for over a hundred years – to children with all disabilities, with zero additional funding to accomplish this massive feat. Instead ASDB could now be saddled with more frequent audits, imposing unnecessary costs and burden on the school without cause.
Wadsack’s misguided legislation does not support persons with disabilities to live with dignity. Her plan to improve the guardianship process of persons with disabilities when they turn 18 was described by a disability rights group as a “flawed and problematic piece of legislation that undermines the principles of autonomy, agency, and individual choice” (APSE). Wadsack also supports cameras in classrooms, proposing that parents should be able to affix a body camera onto their disabled child to monitor their treatment while at school (SB1607). More surveillance is not a safe or appropriate solution for problems in our classrooms.
Senator Wadsack is too extreme for Arizona. She has made it clear she is more interested in being a ‘culture warrior’ legislating moral panic than listening to her constituents’ needs. She is backing multiple bills that would prohibit affirmative action, diversity equity and inclusion, and supposed ‘critical race theory’ teachings, including a ban on teaching The 1619 Project (SB1425). School book bans aimed at the LGBTQ+ community (SB1700) and her attack on drag performance (SB1698) – not to mention her social media activity – have dangerously amplified anti-Transgender misinformation. All of this makes Arizona a more hostile environment for our diverse communities.
Wadsack wants to criminalize homelessness, requiring cities to immediately demolish encampments for unhoused persons, cruelly leaving only 24 hours to vacate and two weeks to recover personal possessions before disposal. It would needlessly send our unhoused neighbors to overflowing jails for trespassing charges. Rents have skyrocketed 38% since the pandemic (Apartment List). Wadsack voted against solutions that appropriate funds for coordinated homeless services, provide for shelters and affordable housing options, and fund programs for rental assistance and eviction prevention.
We cannot wait for 2024. We believe the longer Senator Wadsack is left in office, the more damage she will do fueling hysteria and pushing legislation that punishes our most vulnerable communities.
We are confident we have the support from our community in LD 17 in order to gain the 30,981 signatures necessary to recall Wadsack. As we officially launch our campaign, we invite you to join us in signing, volunteering, and making our voices heard. Visit www.SackWadsack.com for more information.”