Last month, Valley of the Sun United Way reached out to donors and volunteers for their support in encouraging our state legislature to accept federal stimulus funds to backfill child care subsidies impacted by statewide budget cuts. Your overwhelming response helped to secure $18.2 million to keep parents employed and contribute to the State’s economic good.

In early April, Valley of the Sun United Way President and CEO Merl Waschler and Phil Francis, Valley of the Sun United Way board chairman and chairman and CEO of PetSmart, Inc. submitted a joint editorial to The Arizona Republic urging Valley residents to protect the state’s most vulnerable during this budget crisis. To read the article that ran on Saturday, April 4, click here http://tinyurl.com/dndz59.

As community champions and advocates, we ask that you again join our efforts by contacting your local Arizona State Legislature representative and request that they approve a budget that:

• Provides sufficient funding for families to maintain stability and for children and the vulnerable to be protected.
• Includes temporary tax increases.
• Maintains state funding at a level that maximizes federal stimulus and ongoing federal matching funds.

You can make your voice heard today by contacting the state’s leadership by using the links below. It will take all of us working together to ensure our state remains healthy, safe and stable for all Arizonans.

Register to vote: http://www.azsos.gov/election/voterregistration.htm
Know your Legislators: State Senate / State House
Follow the State Legislature: http://www.azleg.gov/