accomplishments
More bills signed into law than any democrat in over a decade
thank you
August 2, 2024
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your support. We have always run a campaign that is grassroots, positive, and substantive. We prioritize engaging voters directly and building a community, and we look forward to making a tangible difference in the lives of the people we serve.
I want to extend my gratitude to Andrei Cherny, Marlene Galan-Woods, Conor O’Callaghan, Andrew Horne, and Kurt Kroemer. They ran passionate campaigns and recently contacted me to offer their support. It’s a sacrifice to run for office, and they worked very hard during this process. We all look forward to victory in November.
leading the primary
July 31, 2024
A heartfelt thank you to my wonderful friends and family for being with me last night as the counting started for our Congressional district. Your steadfast support from the very beginning of this journey means more than I can put into words. We're looking forward to seeing the final results. Your belief in this campaign has made all the difference.
May 2023
I am honored to have been nominated for two 2023 Best of the Capitol Awards from the Arizona Capitol Times. I appreciate the readership for the nominations:
Best Elected Democrat
Best Bill Sponsor
The American College of Emergency Physicians also just announced that I am the recipient of a national honor, the Pamela P. Bensen Trailblazer Award. Dr. Bensen was the first female Emergency Medicine resident among other pioneering achievements, and the award is given to a physician for seminal contributions over time to our specialty. I appreciate the recognition profoundly.
The Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association also presented me with an award for Outstanding Service to Community Health at their annual meeting. I am deeply grateful for the honor.
2023 session bills
For the 2023 session is still ongoing, I had three bills signed into law so far, bringing my total to 12 bills during my five-year tenure. I have now had more bills signed into law than any member of my party in over a decade.
One bill in particular was important to me this past session. A distraught constituent contacted me two years ago. She had my number because I had knocked on her door during my first campaign in 2018. Her son was incarcerated on a non-violent offense, and she was worried as a mother because she was not given access to his medical records despite having his explicit permission. He was relatively young and clearly had a serious medical condition. Because of delays in his medical care and lack of transparency, he suffered serious consequences. To me, this amounted to a human rights issue.
I authored HB2339 to ensure timely access to prisoner medical records for designated individuals such as family members. With strong bipartisan support, the bill passed both chambers and was signed into law last month. When my constituent heard the news, she cried and expressed hope that such a tragedy would never occur again to an Arizona family. I want to thank the members of both parties who advanced my bill and the Governor for their support.
SEPTEMBER 2022
I was very honored to host United States Senator Cory Booker at my home for dinner. Thank you Sen. Booker for your service, and I'm looking forward to working with you on several issues to help move our country forward.
AUGUST 2022
We won our primary for State House! Thank you so much for your continued support!
Source: https://ballotpedia.org/Amish_Shah
June 2022
My campaign has always been centered around knocking doors to meet the people of our district face to face and engage in real conversations. I have personally knocked on over 14,000 doors as part of this effort.
Sometimes though, knocking doors can even save lives. In May of 2022, I was at a door in Sunnyslope and noticed this little creature by the side of house in a flower bed. He was the size of my hand. It was 104 degrees, there was no momma cat in sight, and there was no water available. He was trying to move around, but lacked energy. His eyes were totally crusted shut, and he was not able to fend for himself. I knew he would die soon if he remained there.
So I put him in my car and we took a little trip to the Arizona Humane Society not far away. They cleaned him up, hydrated him, and gave him veterinary care. Dr. Steven Hansen, DVM, the CEO, is an amazing individual!
Our next stop was to see Missy Pruitt, who founded La Gattara Cat Cafe in Phoenix. She put him in a little shoe and provided round-the-clock care. We didn't still know whether he was going to survive because he was so underweight.
Now it's been a few weeks later, and I am so happy to report that Mr. Flowerson has made a full recovery! I now consider him to be the official mascot of this campaign. As you can see, he is very affectionate and curious, learning all about the world, especially his own tail.
I want to thank all of the amazing people who helped make this possible. I strongly encourage trap/neuter/release in our communities to avoid having this happen to others. When I was growing up, animals brought my family together, and that's why I am such a huge animal advocate at the Arizona legislature.
2022 Session bills
I am proud to report that I have now had more bills signed into law than any other current House Democrat.
Six of my bills were signed into law in 2022. Several of these bills were born out of a conversation at a door:
Allowing cities to prohibit fireworks after 11pm
Reducing obstacles for HIV tests, as requested by our LGBTQ community
Enacting a comprehensive plan to reduce assault on all health care workers
Addressing health care worker burnout by creating a wellness program
Requiring smoke recovery devices in the operating room for nurses’ health
Ensuring that patients receive the best care and ER transport on 911 calls
Several of my bills passed House and Senate committees:
Banning the declawing of cats in Arizona
Funding education and rehabilitation of youth in county jails
Compelling release of prisoner medical records to designated family
Creating a statewide nondiscrimination law for our LGBT community and banning conversion therapy
Enhancing postpartum care for women
Meanwhile, I remain focused on issues of recent concern to our district:
Supporting efforts to alleviate our housing and homelessness crisis
Supporting common-sense efforts to prevent firearm violence
Opposing all efforts to create obstacles to voting
Opposing all efforts to limit reproductive rights
2021 Session bills
There were a few bright spots this session, for example that the Governor signed four of my bills into law. My other bill to fund a homeless shelter for seniors was also enacted.
With regard to the State budget that just passed, I was ultimately disappointed. By altering the tax structure, the legislature went against the will of the voters and reduced funding for infrastructure, health care, and especially education from where it would have been otherwise. Several bills that create obstacles to voting also passed despite our best efforts.
Though some of my bills did not pass, I will continue my effort next year to:
Allow cities and towns to prohibit fireworks during overnight hours
Improve teacher salaries and per-pupil expenditures for our children
Fund expanded mental health and dental care, especially for pregnant women
Expand KidsCare to provide more children with health insurance
COVID19
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a great deal of heartbreak and turmoil, new cases have significantly decreased. I have seen this firsthand in the Emergency Room. In the meantime, families and small businesses continue to face economic uncertainty. Unemployment and housing insecurity remain top worries for people in our district. Federal funds are on the way, but we must ensure that people do not slip through the cracks.
The Arizona legislature continues to work through a backlog of bills left over from last year’s abbreviated session. In 2021, I sponsored 28 bills and co-sponsored another 58 bills to deliver on the priorities that I discussed with many of you at your door. Several of these bills began with a meeting with one of you in response to a specific situation, and I am proud to report significant progress on so many of our initiatives.
Health care
My health care bills have focused on expanding access to quality affordable health care, lowering pharmaceutical costs, improving family and medical leave for working parents, and addressing special issues such as Arizona’s nursing shortage, opioid deaths, mental health, postpartum care, and diabetes management. I am thrilled to let you know that two of my bills were signed into law this week: HB2621, reforming prior authorization to reduce health care delays and costs for patients, and HB2622, protecting health care workers against whistleblower retaliation.
I have also supported Rep. Longdon’s groundbreaking work to protect Arizona’s vulnerable adults. Her bills will hopefully reach the Governor’s desk soon.
Education
To support our children, educators, and school support staff, I have been working to fully fund K-12 public education through the budget process. My education proposals would launch comprehensive pre-K education throughout the state and bolster our community colleges through student scholarships. My bill to provide rehabilitative education to youth in county jails passed out of both chambers with broad bipartisan support.
Democracy and civil rights
Through several bills, I have advocated for the removal of obstacles to voting and direct citizen participation in democracy. I supported the elimination of dark money from Arizona elections. Other priorities include the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution, criminal justice reform for non-violent offenders, provision of body cameras to all of our State Troopers, and enactment of statewide housing and employment non-discrimination for the LGBTQ community.
Neighborhood issues
In response to local concerns, I have promoted measures to prohibit fireworks during overnight hours, fund a senior homeless shelter in Western Maricopa County, replenish the Housing Trust Fund to reduce homelessness and housing insecurity, and address neighborhood concerns about short-term rentals (e.g., Airbnb).
Animal advocacy and the environment
To protect our furry family members, I have authored legislation to stop pet stores from sourcing dogs from abusive puppy mills and ban the declaw procedure for cats. To protect our environment, I backed the development of a State Plan to address climate change.
Harmful bills
At the same time, I remain in steadfast opposition to several measures that I believe would be detrimental to the people of Arizona, including those that:
Obstruct ease of voting or deny access to the ballot box
Curtail voters’ ability to enact laws through the initiative process
Create public health hazards or do not follow science with regard to the pandemic
Circumvent the recently-passed Proposition 208 and deny education funding
Expand legislative branch power at the expense of other branches
With every bill that I support or oppose, I strive to understand the practical impact on you and your family to guide my actions. I am honored that you continue to share your stories with me and join in our effort to better our world.