Although employment is one of the primary building blocks leading to inclusion, better income, good health and freedom, it remains an elusive goal for many people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) who wish to work. Equal access to employment for people with disabilities has not improved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) almost 25 years ago. The disparity in national employment rates between those with no disabilities and those with disabilities remains large and has grown significantly since the ADA’s passage. In 2013, the Arizona gap is significant with approximately 21 percent of workers with disabilities employed, which is 40 percentage points less than the 61 percent of workers without disabilities employed. There has also been an overall decline in employment among people with disabilities in both the United States and Arizona since 1994.

This brief will discuss the importance of transportation, problems accessing it, and the utilization of public transportation by people with disabilities. It will describe the barriers experienced in rural and urban settings, and how public transportation programs in Arizona are addressing these barriers. Finally, it will conclude with best practices and future trends in the wake of government funding cuts, including the establishment of one call centers, volunteer driver programs, and shared vans operated by non-profit organizations.

This two-page primer briefing was handed out at the Jan. 29 Morrison Institute Roundtable Discussion on violence: Recent high-profile events on our streets and playing fields have refocused public attention on the nature and level of violence in our society. While most of us would likely agree that the United States has a violence problem, much disagreement reigns over what it is, why it is, and what to do about it. Few would deny that our individual and societal attitudes about violence are, at the very least, confused, if not conflicted.

Numerous studies have concluded that university science and technology research can lead to economic growth, particularly in the fast growing and high paying knowledge economy industries. Across the country and around the world, many state and national governments have heeded these studies and made substantial investments in their university research capacity. The common hope is to capitalize on the wealth and job creation that can be generated by a science and technology-based economy. Arizona is among the biggest recent investors. Passage of Arizona’s Proposition 301 in November 2000 earmarked an estimated $1 billion over 20 years to support increasing science and technology research capacity at the state’s three public universities. Other research funding programs have also been initiated in the state. Now, after the first four years of Proposition 301 funding -- FY 2002 through FY 2005 -- the question arises: How are Arizona’s Proposition 301 research investments performing?

This briefing examines the past, present and potentially future ways judges in Arizona are selected/elected. There are a number of bills looking to make both small and major modifications to Arizona’s judicial system. Potential changes include adding public comment and rulings information to pamphlets created for judicial selection, increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to seven and restricting the Supreme Court’s authority. There are also a handful of bills that would directly impact merit selection if they were successful this session.