State of the State: Governor Hobbs promises more affordable housing and childcare

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Monday lawmakers gathered at the State Capitol for the State of the State where Governor Katie Hobbs addressed more than 10 overarching topics. Two of those topics included affordable housing and affordable childcare.

"We have lowered costs by cutting government red tape and making historic investments in affordable housing programs,” Governor Hobbs said.

Hobbs said she’s already expanded affordable housing through down payment assistance and expanding access to casitas. She’s also planning on creating the Home for Heroes Fund, which would help veterans get better access to affordable housing.

“Affordable housing is maybe the top issue facing people here in Tucson,” Lee Ziesche said.

Ziesche is the communications coordinator for the Tucson Democratic Socialists of America. She said Hobbs’ plans are important first steps, but they’re not enough.

“We really need to tax the wealthy in order to pay for things like affordable housing,” she said.

Kathleen Winn is the Pima County GOP’s chairman. She said there’s not enough affordable housing for first time homeowners, which ties in with the economy.

“We have to overall work on the economy and create more jobs here in the state and higher-paying jobs,” Winn said.

Hobbs also said she’s introducing the Working Families Child Care Act in which the state government would partner with employers to lower costs of childcare by two thirds.

“Childcare can pretty much be like almost a second rent so I still think we need to do a lot more to actually make childcare more affordable,” Ziesche said.

Hobbs said the average family pays fifteen thousand dollars a year for childcare.

“We have to budget as families. I’d like to see the governor’s office and state legislature focus on maybe attracting employers that want to provide those as a benefit,” Winn said.

However, Winn said that should be left to the free market and she’s also against subsidies by the state.

Governor Katie Hobbs also said the border is a top priority for her. She brought up her own efforts to send the Arizona national Guard to the border to stop drugs from coming into the country.

Securing the border is also an effort president-elect Donald Trump has been talking about since he started running for president almost ten years ago. While in office, he also tackled immigration and campaigned on bringing back those efforts.

Governor Hobbs also mentioned protecting access to in vitro fertilization treatments. It’s also a topic Donald Trump campaigned on, promising to make insurance companies pay for it.

Ziesche said Democrats leaned too far right in the 2024 presidential election and hopes they don’t do it again in Arizona this legislative session.

“We know if they’re fighting for legislation that actually improves the lives of working class people, that they can get Arizonans across the state on board,” Ziesche said.

Winn said she’s worked with Democrats before on issues like sex trafficking and said it’s possible for the two parties to work together again.

“If people can put the voters and the people that they serve first, we should have a lot more cooperation,” Winn said.