Janet Napolitano
Arizona Governor
Governor Janet Napolitano has been a visionary leader in Arizona by building partnerships with businesses, communities and individuals to move the state forward. She became Governor during the worst financial crisis in Arizona history and balanced a 1.3 billion dollar budget deficit while protecting education and without raising taxes. Today, Arizona enjoys a 1.4 billion dollar budget surplus, a booming economy, record growth, and a state that lives within its means while investing wisely in the future.
Governor Napolitano is committed to the values that matter most to Arizonans - a strong public education system, a safe homeland, a secure border, sensible economic development, affordable and accessible health care, and a government that is run efficiently and responsibly.
Governor Napolitano has made the education and protection of Arizona's children the driving force of her administration. She fought for and secured sweeping reforms and funding for Arizona's Child Protective Services system and led the successful effort to offer voluntary full day kindergarten to our families. She is also fighting to give every teacher in Arizona a raise.
While preparing students for the future, Governor Napolitano believes that we must also create good jobs that will be there when they graduate. That is why she partnered with business to support the expansion of Arizona's core sectors while growing and developing the state's high-tech industry. She has accelerated Arizona's prosperity through incentives for angel investment, tax relief for hi-tech manufacturers who create jobs in the state, and by signing into law one of the largest business property tax relief measures in Arizona history.
There is no greater responsibility today than protecting our homeland and there is no greater champion for law-enforcement and security than Governor Napolitano. Under her leadership, Arizona implemented the first state homeland security strategy in the nation and developed the Arizona Counter-Terrorism Information Center, a 24/7 multi-agency intelligence fusion center that tracks and shares critical data used to keep our cities and our borders safe. The Governor has also presided over unprecedented advancements in forest health and fire prevention by ensuring that Arizona leads the nation in thinning its state land, and that our communities have well crafted and functional emergency plans.
Governor Janet Napolitano has been a national leader in addressing illegal immigration. As U.S. Attorney, she prosecuted more than 6,000 illegal immigration cases. As Governor, she attracted bi-partisan support when she declared a state of emergency along the four border counties and provided critical state resources to assist local communities in addressing illegal immigration. Governor Napolitano is committed to real immigration reform by increasing law enforcement and equipment along the border, targeting crimes associated with illegal immigration, and sanctioning employers who intentionally hire illegal immigrants.
Responding aggressively to Arizona's health care needs, Governor Napolitano stands out as a leader in developing creative solutions. To address the critical shortage of doctors in Arizona, Governor Napolitano worked closely with the Universities to break ground on Phoenix's first medical school. She partnered with the private sector to create one of the nation's first free prescription drug discount cards, the Arizona CoppeRx Card, which has saved seniors more than $14 million to date. She also worked with Arizona's business community to revitalize Healthcare Group, which provides affordable health insurance to thousands of small business owners and employees.
Governor Napolitano made many of these investments possible by shifting resources from government waste and inefficiency to government productivity. Through her hallmark Efficiency Review initiative, Governor Napolitano is changing the way state government works - from how it buys paper and pencils to how it provides health insurance. Utilizing common sense strategies, state government has identified permanent savings of hundreds of millions of dollars. Governor Napolitano has demonstrated that what matters is smart government, efficient government, and effective government.
The incoming Chair of the National Governor's Association, current Chair of the Western Governor's Association and recently named one of the Nation's Best Governors by Time Magazine, Janet Napolitano was sworn in as Arizona's 21st Governor on January 6, 2003. Prior to her election as Governor of Arizona, Napolitano served one term as Arizona Attorney General and four years as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. Born in New York and raised in Albuquerque, she is a distinguished alumna of Santa Clara University and the University of Virginia Law School. She has lived in Arizona since 1983, when she moved to Phoenix to practice law. The Governor is a serious sports fan - the Arizona Diamondbacks are her favorite - an avid reader, moviegoer and hiker.
