AI-assisted summaryArizona state Sen. Eva Burch resigned, in part citing low wages for state legislators.Arizona legislators haven’t seen a pay increase since 1998 when voters approved a $24,000 salary.State Sen. John Kavanagh is working on a ballot initiative asking voters to adjust legislator pay for inflation.A year ago this March, Eva Burch stood on the floor of the Arizona Senate and told her colleagues and the people of Arizona that she was about to have an abortion.Her words reverberated nationally. In Arizona, they would soon drive momentum for passage of a voter initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The anniversary of that moment arrives on Tuesday, but Burch will not be there to mark it.The west Mesa Democrat announced that she would resign on March 14 from the Arizona Senate, citing her difficulty making ends meet on the meager salary we pay her and other Arizona lawmakers.That should alarm all of us.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.I disagreed with Eva Burch on many issuesI cast my ballot in November against the abortion initiative Burch promoted, and I oppose many of her policy positions. But the Legislature isn’t there to rubber stamp Republican or Democratic priorities. The Legislature sits on a high hill that sees the many problems and opportunities in Arizona and works to either solve them or seize them.This is done through the lawmaking process, the proposal of bills that then become law. Before they become law, however, they must go through the crucible of debate.Why? Because most new ideas are bad ideas, and it doesn’t matter which side of the aisle is promoting them.They all need to be tested.Arizona needs more senators like herThat’s why we need people like Burch in the state Senate, people with real-world experience and the smarts to articulate it.She has everything you want in a state lawmaker. Well-educated. Experienced in a field of major importance in this state — health care.She is a registered nurse and nurse practitioner who has worked in hospital emergency rooms, a women’s clinic and has helped people with opioid addiction, as reported by The Arizona Republic’s Ray Stern. She is also the married mother of two young boys.When she took the microphone on March 18, 2024, and told her persona …
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