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House members, both ex-educators, vie for Dist. 26 Senate seat
ANNE BRADY
Associate Editor
The two Republican candidates for the state Senate seat from District 26 have been serving together for the past few years as members of the House of Representatives from the same district - Robin Shaw, 42, and Tom Smith, 71.
Shaw, a single parent, small-business owner and former high school teacher, was first elected to the House in 1995.
Smith, a retired high school principal and former school board member, joined the House in 1991.
Shaw and her two children are members of a Reform synagogue in the Valley. Smith is Catholic, is married and is a father of seven.
The Jewish News posed the same three questions to each of the candidates.
Q: Both you and your opponent have backgrounds in education. Do you favor further education reform in Arizona, and if so, what form should it take?
Robin Shaw: I have introduced legislation to reduce class size, and to establish a tax credit to encourage businesses to allow employees time off to volunteer one day a month in schools. I also think we should offer an incentive to teachers to graduate with a core curriculum degree in the subject they will be teaching. To get certified, they still would need some classes in education. I support public/private partnerships for (adults) mentoring students in kindergarten through third grade.
Tom Smith: Principals, administrators and early childhood teachers have to be better trained. For (teachers of students in) the early grades, the training at the institutions of (higher) education is not sufficient. The principals and administrators need to take classes at the school of business, classes in management and leadership.
Q: What is the best way that the Legislature can foster business growth and development in Arizona without endangering our quality of life?
Robin Shaw: We need to have a solid, competitive tax structure. We have a system that creates a disincentive to businesses to grow here or move here. We have a 9 percent corporate tax rate. The offering of incentives to particular businesses and industries is a Band-aid approach to the problem that doesn't work. No. 2, on the environmental side, people should vote in November for (the initiative that resulted from the passage of) my bill, 'Growing Smarter.' ... The vote is on the land preservation piece (of the legislation) which would levy $20 million a year from the general fund, and we would get a match from local governments or private sources, and it would go into the state land fund, which funds education.
Tom Smith: No. 1, we need to reduce business taxes to allow business to expand, to move here and to hire additional people. Also (with the passage in the last session of the Students First legislation on school construction funding), we will be reducing school bonding, which will help with taxes.
Q: The Arizona Israel Exchange Commission and state Rep. Paul Newman (D-Bisbee) are calling for legislation to establish an Arizona trade office in Israel, which has a similar climate to our state and utilizes similar technologies and agricultural techniques. Do you have any thoughts on this, or on other ways to expand Arizona businesses' opportunities for trade with other states and countries?
Robin Shaw: We need the Arizona Department of Commerce to put Israel on its priority list (as a trading partner). I support trade with Israel, but we (in the Legislature) don't tell the Department of Commerce how to increase trade. The Legislature doesn't micromanage how to spend the commerce department's budget. An Israel trade office is not in the department's plans for today. I would love to do that (but) it would be viewed as micromanaging the Department of Commerce.
Tom Smith: They (the Department of Commerce) ought to do that on an individual basis for each country - study it, and determine if products made in Arizona could be an import to that country. The department should handle it and determine which countries are the best (trading partners and warrant establishment of a trading office).
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