John Hudak
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Articles by John Hudak
Propositions, propositions, and more propositions!
As ballots arrive in our mailboxes starting Oct. 7, one thing we will all notice is the large number of state and local propositions. Yes, for those of us in Pima County there will be as many as a dozen propositions to consider.
Art is the answer!
September is our annual Arts Guide issue. I’ve expressed before in these pages that Art with a capital “A” has changed my life. It also deserves repeating that Tucson punches way above our market size for our quality and quantity of arts and cultural offerings. That’s not only an important quality of life issue for those of us who live here, but an economic development issue. High quality of life encourages more companies to locate here or expand, creating jobs and economic growth.
Education initiatives on top of education initiatives!!??
As we start another school year in Arizona, I can’t help but remark on the stupid stuff that comes out of our Arizona Legislature! If you have been paying attention, you know that our legislature has attacked K-12 education for a while. For now, I am just going to focus on the proposed ballot initiatives regarding K-12 education. The main focus of two ballot initiatives is our somewhat unique and problem-fraught “voucher” system, also known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs).
250 years of hard-earned freedom!
Unless you’ve been living in a cave on a remote island somewhere, you know that this July 4 we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our democratic experiment. Clearly, we are not an ancient civilization, but we have become one of the most important countries on the planet. I’m not a history buff, but it’s hard not to know a little about our founding documents —the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Moms
May 10 is Mother’s Day this year. My mom died approximately two and a half years ago at age 91. She was blessed, and our whole family was blessed, that she had a reasonable quality of life as well as quantity of life right up until the end. Although I miss her, and do think of her almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day, I am mainly in a place of gratitude.
We need to vote “YES” twice!
There are some things that bug me fairly consistently. One is how our elected officials can make things more difficult or more complicated than they need to be, and another is how lawyers can use legal language and technicalities to make things more complicated than they need to be! The example before me now is how we have to vote to extend our much-needed regional transportation funding.
Looking Forward
I’ve never been much of a New Year’s resolution kind of guy, and the statistics don’t exactly make a good case for resolutions anyway since 40% of people who make them tend to fall off the wagon in the first month. But looking forward into a crystal ball for 2026 and making some wishes can be fun, and I like to find ways to be a better person in any new year. For fun, I’m going to explore those personal thoughts for 2026, plus do some of this work for our city, state and country.
Holiday Season!
I’m getting older and take many annual events in stride because I have just done them for so long. Holidays are a little like that for me — not that I don’t want to celebrate them, but I don’t really question them. When I was younger, there was always a freshness to each holiday, an anticipation, and usually a sense of joy.
Ripple Effect
Out here in the hinterlands of Tucson, things that happen Back East don’t always affect us, and that’s a good thing. Let’s face it, we like living in our own little unique place on the planet that is often insulated from concerns in bigger cities and on both coasts. However, it is precisely in a smaller, more rural place like Tucson that the ripple effect of some decisions Back East can have an outsized impact.
Monsoons??!!
Even though “monsoon season” in Tucson technically starts on June 15, historically July is when we start to see monsoon storms building with any regularity. This year, more than just about any summer in nearly 30 years we need at least a “normal” if not “above normal” rainfall for our monsoon season to help make up for the months-long, short-term drought starting last August. We also have a long-term drought that many experts say has been going on in Arizona as far back as the 1990s.
Hopes and Dreams
When I was a kid, I had hopes and dreams about my adulthood. I wanted a career. I wanted to get married. I wanted to have kids. Now, as I get closer to retirement, I’ve got bucket-list travel, writing poetry, visiting grandkids, spending time with family and friends. The point is we all have hopes and dreams, and they can change over time. I’ve lived in Tucson since 1975, and I’ve had hopes and dreams for our beloved community. I also have hopes and dreams for our nation and our world.
Fly Tucson First
Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “to travel is to live.” We are entering the summer travel season, and I want to sing the praises and argue the virtues and dividends of flying out of Tucson International Airport whenever possible. Air service, as the airlines look at it, is a “supply and demand” issue. If we supply the demand, they will supply the flights.
Tolerance vs Acceptance
The word “acceptance” can have multiple meanings and applications.
It’s Out Of Control!
As I see it, Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program (ESA’s) has gotten out of control! What started out in 2011 as a way to help students with disabilities find better fitting services with approximately 2,200 narrowly defined eligible participants has grown to serve any and all students regardless of need with more than 85,000 students currently enrolled.
A Truly Remarkable Life…
I’m writing this on the “National Day of Mourning” for former president and centenarian Jimmy Carter. I’ve heard a ton of stuff about him in the last week that made me think not so much of his presidency, but the legacy of a truly remarkable human. There may not have been a President Jimmy Carter if there was not a President Richard Nixon, and possibly no President Ronald Reagan if there had not been a President Jimmy Carter.
Buy Local, Support Local!
In his bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes: “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” As we start the new year and look ahead for how to make 2025 the best it can be, I think it is good both personally and professionally to reflect on our mission and core values.
Open Primaries???
Early voting ballots should arrive in mailboxes on October 9. In my mind, one of the most important opportunities to improve our current faltering system is on the ballot this year.
Agreements And Civility
When you think about it, even these letters that I am writing to you with, and the words I’m using, are based on all of us “agreeing” that they mean the same thing or very similar things to all of us. When we drive to work each day or anywhere, our safety relies on the “agreements” we have about what side of the street to drive, what speeds, red lights and green lights, etc. All around us in every aspect of our lives, agreements are at the base.
Wabi-Sabi
I recently read my close friend Lee Shainen’s new book Sticky Karma, and on page 240 out of 284, I ran into something totally new about Lee and his worldview. Now, I have known Lee, and we have been the closest of friends for more than a quarter century.
One More Time... Stop Giving Your $$ to PHX!
I discussed this topic last year, and this is my updated take on the subject, which so many of our readers have asked about …. April is tax season. You may not think that when you pay your annual Arizona state taxes that you send your money to Phoenix to basically be re-distributed to Phoenix, but in reality that is pretty much what we do.
The GOP should see Nancy Pelosi as a role model, not a villain
As Nancy Pelosi winds down her nearly two-decade tenure as the leader of House Democrats, including four terms as Speaker of the House, it is important to examine her time in leadership and learn from it. In many respects, Speaker Pelosi has been one of the most powerful leaders ever to hold the gavel. In the political arena, her foes have used her as a bogeyman of liberal politics, pushing her image in campaign commercials, radio ads, and direct mail.
Why we won’t know much on election night
The chances of knowing which party will control the U.S. Senate on election night 2022 is increasingly small, and the chances of knowing, tomorrow night, who won every single U.S. House and statewide race is zero. As Americans we should not consider that evidence of fraud, instead we should understand it to be evidence of a careful, successfully administered, functional election.
Last minute messaging for the midterms
As we come to the end of 2022 midterm election cycle, candidates are scrambling to engage in last minute messaging and message changes that can push them over the finish line. In some cases, candidates try to change or at least soften positions which served them well in the primaries in hopes of attracting just enough voters to put them over the top. This was especially so for two hot-button issues that emerged in the Republican primaries—abortion and denying the results of the 2020 election.
2022 elections: Results and implications
Twitter Join the conversation on Twitter using #Election2022 As the 2022 midterm elections near, what will the results mean for politics and policy going forward? Experts in Brookings’s Center for Effective Public Management spent the year analyzing congressional primary data to better understand the candidates, the voters, and the party platforms.
Biden’s cannabis pardons: a long overdue reassessment of the War on Drugs
On Thursday, President Biden took the most significant steps to reform federal cannabis policy of any president in American history. While there is much more work to do, his executive actions fulfill his 2020 campaign promises, and of equal importance, his justification for those actions was centered on racial justice and civil rights. It is fitting framing because his actions will likely have an outsized impact on Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans.
Biden's cannabis pardons: a long overdue reassessment of the War on Drugs
John Hudak John Hudak Former Brookings Expert, Director of the Office of Cannabis Policy - Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services October 7, 2022 On Thursday, President Biden took the most significant steps to reform federal cannabis policy of any president in American history.
Congressional Candidates’ Silence On Cannabis Reform
By John Hudak Cannabis reform has grown in popularity with voters, activists, and state legislators; cannabis is now legal for medical use in 38 states and DC and for adult-use in 19 states and DC. Despite those advances in state level reforms and in the broader conversation nationwide, Congress has failed to pass a major piece of legislation addressing the issue, and many voters and activists wonder why.
Congressional candidates’ silence on cannabis reform
Cannabis reform has grown in popularity with voters, activists, and state legislators; cannabis is now legal for medical use in 38 states and DC and for adult-use in 19 states and DC. Despite those advances in state level reforms and in the broader conversation nationwide, Congress has failed to pass a major piece of legislation addressing the issue, and many voters and activists wonder why.
November midterms are Trump’s make-or-break moment
This November Donald Trump faces an existential test. He has spent the primary season throwing around his political weight by endorsing candidates all over the United States. The midterm elections will serve as a true test of his power, and the outcomes will determine his future strength in the party. Donald Trump’s record of success in primary endorsements has been mixed, as my colleagues have written extensively about in previous posts.
Biden and Trump put to the test: A preview of the 2022 midterm elections
The upcoming midterm elections will have enormous consequences. Not only will they determine which party controls the House and Senate for the next two years, but they will also give us insights into the strength of President Biden, Donald Trump, and other national leaders as we approach the next presidential election.
What Would Mr. Rogers Do?
I’m writing this a week after the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois on 4th of July. It was another in a string of senseless mass shootings, from grocery stores to elementary schools. The egregious war in Ukraine still marches on. We are dealing with the highest inflation in 40 years, and the strong possibility of a recession.
Monsoons as Metaphor
I moved here from Pennsylvania in 1975 at age 19. After growing up with big leafy trees, such as oaks and maples, and rich black earth for farming, I couldn’t believe that anything actually grew out of the hard, parched earth here. I landed in August of 1975, and as nature would have it, there was a robust monsoon season going on.
The Supreme Court’s abortion decision-just the beginning of the battle
As news of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade spread through a meeting in Washington D.C. this morning, someone was heard to say, “Game on.” And so, it is—on two fronts. The first will be enforcement provisions in state laws and the second will be for control of Congress as the fight moves from state legislatures to Congress. The first front will be a state-by-state fight between states that fall into two distinct groups.
Tiptoeing around Trump-will Mike Pence’s strategy work?
Mike Pence is running for president using a strategy that tiptoes around his relationship with Donald Trump. He was, as would be expected, a loyal vice president. And yet in the final days he broke from his president when Trump pressured him to, single handedly and without any legal basis, reject the electoral college votes from states Trump had lost. In upholding the Constitution, Pence got a modicum of respect from Democrats and others who had seen him merely as a lapdog to Donald Trump.
How to spend our $5.27 billion state surplus?
We have an embarrassment of riches in state government right now. As I write this, our state legislature is “behind closed doors” deciding exactly how to spend the $5.27 billion surplus. I emphasize “behind closed doors,” because they clearly do not want too much public scrutiny while they are debating. But frankly, it is our money they are talking about spending, and I want to open some doors.
Delaware Shows The War On Drugs Lives On In Liberal Enclaves
This article originally appeared on Brookings and has been reposted with permission. By John Hudak By and large, liberal politicians in the United States—and the vast majority of Democrats—support the legalization of cannabis. Many have come to see the War on Drugs, especially cannabis, as a civil rights issue that has had devastating effects for African Americans. But the Democratic Governor of Delaware, John Carney, is not one of those.
Equitable economic recovery post-COVID must be society’s priority
Over the past year, colleagues at the Brookings Institution and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, have launched a research project that examines shifting inequities in the post-pandemic recovery. Many researchers, including our colleagues, have framed the effects of COVID as a disease and a turbulent economic moment that punctuated a robust economy.
Delaware shows the War on Drugs lives on in liberal enclaves
By and large, liberal politicians in the United States—and the vast majority of Democrats—support the legalization of cannabis. Many have come to see the War on Drugs, especially cannabis, as a civil rights issue that has had devastating effects for African Americans. But the Democratic Governor of Delaware, John Carney, is not one of those. His veto of a cannabis-related criminal justice bill was a throwback to an earlier time.
Obstacles and recommendations for moving US development policies onto a locally led path
On April 18, the Brookings Center for Sustainable Development hosted a roundtable to explore the obstacles facing U.S. government agencies—specifically the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—in the implementation of locally led development.
The War on Abortion Drugs will be just as racist and classist
As we consider the potential implications of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, one open question is how states will enforce the abortion bans that are expected in at least twenty-six states. History suggests that the prospective anti-abortion laws are likely to echo the “War on Drugs;” they will not eliminate the behavior that is outlawed, but will, through biased, targeted enforcement, disproportionately harm poor people and people of color.
Stop Giving Your $$ to PHX!
April is tax season. You may not think that when you pay your annual Arizona state taxes that you are sending your money to Phoenix to basically be re-distributed to Phoenix, but in reality that is pretty much what we do. However, thanks to one of the most broad, diverse, and deep tax credit programs in the United States, we Tucsonans can significantly re-direct a sizeable portion of our Arizona state tax obligations to specific worthy organizations and activities in our area.
Donald Trump should be furious the RNC nixed presidential debates
On Thursday, the Republican National Committee voted to withdraw its party’s candidates from participation in the official presidential debates. Their unanimous vote to separate from the Commission on Presidential Debates is historic and comes after months of suggestions by the RNC and its chairperson Ronna McDaniel that the party would do so.
Your Facebook Friends are Wrong about Tom Woods
Libertarian social media has been ablaze the past few days after allegations that noted podcaster and author Tom Woods began dating his ex-wife at 26 when she was only 15 years old. Woods has denied the allegations, with a contingent of his fans claiming that the accusation is simply character assassination. However, the evidence released so far paints a different picture.
Putin pushes Biden to walk a State of the Union tightrope
For weeks, President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address was viewed as an opportunity to change the conversation around the economy and communicate to the American people how a recovering economy is getting stronger. But the opportunity to change the domestic narrative has been upset by Russian President Vladimir Putin. And now, Biden’s speech must balance critically important messages on dramatically different topics.
Around the Halls: One year since the January 6 insurrection
One year ago this week, a violent mob of President Donald Trump’s political supporters gathered at the White House, and after hearing speeches from President Trump and his allies, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and committed an act of domestic terrorism against the U.S. Capitol.
Around the Halls: One year since the January 6 insurrection
On January 6, 2021, a violent mob of President Donald Trump’s political supporters gathered at the White House, and after hearing speeches from President Trump and his allies, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and committed an act of domestic terrorism against the U.S. Capitol.
The numbers for drug reform in Congress don’t add up
As this Congressional session comes to an end, many people have been disappointed by the lack of action on important legislation. One of those is cannabis. Going forward, pro-cannabis legislators ultimately have choices to make. If comprehensive cannabis legislation is dead in this Congress—and it is—is any alternative palatable? Is the status quo of prohibition preferable to holding out hope for broad-based legislation at a later date?
Did legislative sausage-making hurt President Biden?
A funny thing happened on the way to President Biden signing a historic, bipartisan, popular infrastructure bill—he lost popularity. His approval ratings sank. So what happened? The country’s chaotic departure from Afghanistan at the end of August definitely had an effect, as did the return of inflation.
2021 elections: Results and implications
Twitter Join the conversation on Twitter using #Election2021 The first major elections in the Biden era are taking place, with both parties looking to them to determine voters’ desires and develop winning strategies for the future. This year’s elections will mainly consist of statewide and local elections in New Jersey and Virginia.
Biden should end America’s longest war: The War on Drugs
The War on Drugs, not the war in Afghanistan, is America’s longest war. It has used trillions of American taxpayer dollars, militarized American law enforcement agencies (federal, state, and local), claimed an untold number of lives, railroaded people’s futures (especially among Black, Latino, and Native populations), and concentrated the effort in the country’s most diverse and poorest neighborhoods.
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