With the latest session of the Arizona State Legislature now underway the local representatives from District 23, which includes Fountain Hills, are getting down to business.

Representative Michelle Ugenti-Rita outlined her plans and priorities in an email to The Times.

“Entering my sixth session in the Arizona House of Representatives and as a member of the Appropriations committee I will continue my efforts to stabilize Arizona’s budget,” Ugenti-Rita said.

“My primary goal is to maintain the importance of aligning spending with revenues.”

She said that Fiscal Year 2017 is projected to have an ending cash balance of $625 million, largely due to one-time revenues.

Ugenti-Rita also said that by the end of Fiscal Year 2017, permanent revenues are expected to exceed permanent statutory spending by $26 million, giving Arizona a structurally balanced budget.

“With no discretionary revenue or spending changes in the next three years, the budget is projected to have a structural balance of $325 million,” she said.

“While these efforts are working, there is clearly more to be done to maintain our structural balance.”

Having acted as Chairman for the House Committee on Government for three years Ugenti-Rita said she is very familiar with the desire of municipal governments to maintain local control.

“Cities and towns are political subdivisions of the state and derive their authority from statutes enacted by the legislature,” she said.

“As has been demonstrated in the past, the state and local governments need to partner in providing consistent environments for businesses to grow and prosper.

“Competition between local governments usually results in a more negative outcome than one where consensus is reached.”

As Chairman of the House Committee on Elections, Ugenti-Rita has introduced several pieces of legislation to reform the electoral process.

“Specifically, I am addressing the collection of mail-in ballots, the term of office for precinct committeemen and the Clean Elections Act,” she said.

“Voting and the electoral process are the most direct way for people to impact their government, and I anticipate there will be additional legislation assigned to my committee to reform the governance and authority over candidates and elections.

“These proposals will be thoroughly reviewed to ensure they protect the integrity of elections.”

During this session Ugenti-Rita is assigned as chairman of the Elections Committee and member of the Appropriations and Ways & Means committees. She can be contacted by email at mugenti-rita@azleg.gov.

The second member of the Arizona House from District 23, Jay Lawrence did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Lawrence is vice chairman of the House Education Committee. He also sits on the Commerce and Health committees. He can be contacted at jlawrence@azleg.gov.