Unable to access lifesaving treatments at home—due in part to antiquated federal regulations—the Riley family of Arizona was forced to move to Italy so they could save their baby daughter Keira, who was diagnosed with a fatal brain disease. But now, thanks to the Goldwater Institute, Arizona is the first state in the nation to enact the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments (Right to Try 2.0), a bipartisan law that will make it easier for families like the Rileys to access groundbreaking medical treatments in the Grand Canyon State.
This week, the Arizona legislature passed Right to Try 2.0, a Goldwater Institute law that protects a patient’s right to access treatments that are customized for individuals, based on their genetics. Unfortunately, under woefully outdated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, patients struggle to access these treatments in the United States because they cannot go through typical FDA processes in a timely manner.
Right to Try 2.0 expands upon the original Right to Try law, which Goldwater passed in 41 states and then at the federal level in 2018, by covering the latest in cutting-edge treatments that can save the lives of people like Keira. The Goldwater Institute is working to pass Right to Try 2.0 nationwide, and it is already being considered in several other states.
As Keira’s mom, Kendra, testified before the Arizona legislature earlier this year: “It brings tears to my eyes thinking of all the other special needs families out there who have always held on to hope for a chance like this. A chance at healing. A chance at a normal life—something every single one of us deserves.”
Read more about passage of this first-in-the-nation law here, and learn more about Right to Try 2.0 here.
Taxpayer victory! The Arizona Supreme Court this week blocked attempts by pro-tax forces to revoke Arizona’s recently-enacted tax cuts. The tax relief law, which the Goldwater Institute wrote and passed last year, establishes the nation’s lowest flat income tax rate—simplifying the state’s tax laws and reducing the tax burden for hard-working taxpayers.
Big government leftists tried to place the tax relief law on the ballot this fall, even though the Arizona Constitution specifically exempts tax laws from the ballot referendum process. In striking down this unconstitutional push, the state Supreme Court delivered a huge win to Arizona’s hard-working taxpayers, given that our economic recovery depends on entrepreneurship, development, and growth—all of which are hindered when government takes more of what people earn.
Goldwater is proud of our work to restore Arizona’s competitive advantage as a low-tax state, because we know it’s crucial to keep taxes low and uncomplicated so that businesses owners, employees, and entrepreneurs can thrive. We’re committed to keeping Arizona open for business and ensuring taxpayers can keep more of their hard-earned money—and we will never back down in the fight for economic liberty.
Read more about this taxpayer victory at In Defense of Liberty.
Parents are demanding that public schools stop keeping them in the dark, Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas said this week on Newsmax’s National Report. Nicole, whom the Goldwater Institute is defending pro bono, was sued by the nation’s largest teachers union because she wouldn’t stop trying to find out what her daughter would be learning in kindergarten.
“My case really destroys the narrative that the teachers union and leftists are pushing. They’re painting parents as these radical aggressors, when really, we just want to know what our kids are being taught,” she said. “They’re just trying to bully me and send a message to other parents that if you want to know what your kids are learning in school, they’ll try to silence you with frivolous litigation as well.”
Nicole has become a strong advocate for Goldwater’s solution: a landmark academic transparency reform—introduced in more than twenty states—that requires public schools to post their learning materials online. Summing up the parent-led movement for academic transparency perfectly, Nicole concluded: “Parents across the country believe that schools should be transparent about what they’re teaching.”
Watch Nicole’s full interview here.
