“I believe in stronger communities, and it can’t be done without taking a stand.”
–Christian Solorio Acuña
Affordable Housing
For an Arizona with housing stability, we need to refocus housing policy to protect current occupants and build new affordable housing. Rent increases outpace wage increases, and it leaves families in a struggle to afford groceries, healthcare, clothes, or school supplies. It puts families at risk for displacement with astronomical rent increases. How can we expect our communities to thrive when folks are being rotated in and out of homes, children are changing schools and lives being uprooted. At the same time, the population of people experiencing homelessness has skyrocketed. There is a severe shortage of shelter beds. Even more concerning, our most vulnerable communities are overrepresented: the elderly, aged-out foster care youth and folks with disabilities. For first-time homebuyers, the bidding wars against out-of-state investors and buyers have left them out of the process all together. America’s best tool for building generational wealth is no longer available to ALL. Christian has dedicated his career to addressing this issue and he is tackling head on with an all hands on deck approach. He is utilizing every policy, fiscal and community tool available to help keep folks in their homes, folks off the street, and folks one step closer to achieving their American Dream.
Education
Education is the foundation that we use to build our future. The United States was able to build the foundation for its current economic status due to its early implementation of universal K-12 public education. Christian stands to fight for fully funding this very system that made our country and economy what it is today. With labor shortages in nearly every sector, it is imperative that we build a strong, well-educated workforce. All of that work starts with our teachers. We need to pay our teachers what they deserve! In a time when education requires more technology and software than ever before, instead of increasing funding, our State has been moving in the opposite direction. Christian is here to fight for our children, our teachers and our future!
Environment
There is no issue more pressing for our future generations than our environment. For far too long, short-sighted, profit-driven decisions have shaped our energy, water and environmental policies. That time needs to come to an end for the sake of our children’s lives. They, through no fault of their own, will live in a world with more severe droughts, higher temperatures and soaring energy costs. It is our responsibility as decision makers to pave a future that treats this planet right. Our communities are disproportionately affected by climate change. Our communities suffer from lower air quality, lack of access to nature and parks and are surrounded by industries and their pollution. We need to invest in solar and need to prepare our workforce for the influx of new green energy and technology jobs. We need to act now to ensure that investment in sustainability is invested in the communities that need it most.
Elections
It is of utmost priority to defend our right to vote. Our elections are under attack by bad policy that is making it harder and harder for eligible voters to participate in their right to vote. This type of voter disenfranchisement is what I am elected to fight against.
Healthcare
As a cancer survivor, I have first hand experience seeing just how broken our healthcare system is. Medical emergencies, through no fault of the person, have the power to put folks in a lifetime of debt. Living in the richest country in the world, this is unacceptable. Every person should have access to quality healthcare because it is an essential right.