114 years later: Are we still building Arizona for the long term?

On Valentine’s Day, 1912, President William Howard Taft signed the proclamation making Arizona the 48th state. We entered the Union with one of the most citizen-driven constitutions in the country — rooted in independence, local control, and a healthy skepticism of concentrated power.

But statehood alone didn’t build Arizona.

In 1912, we were a rugged territory of just over 200,000 people — rich in copper and cattle, but short on infrastructure and water security. Early leadership, including Governor George W. P. Hunt understood that growth would not come from rhetoric. It would come from groundwork.

The focus was simple: build the foundation.

Irrigation systems expanded. Water storage projects took shape. Roads connected remote communities. Public schools were established and strengthened. Mining and agriculture — the twin pillars of Arizona’s early economy — depended on steady, practical investment.

Then came the New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the wake of the Great Depression, federal investment put people to work building dams, highways, rural electrification systems, and public buildings. These were not abstract programs. They were lifelines that made desert living sustainable and long-term growth possible.

Arizona was built on infrastructure. On public lands and stewardship. On strong public schools. On water policy that required long-term planning before short-term expansion.

And now, 114 years later, those foundations face new tests.

This legislative session includes proposals that would alter how long-term water availability is measured and certified for development — raising concerns among water planners about weakening the safeguards that have guided sustainable growth for decades.

At the same time, debate continues over expansion and oversight of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, Arizona’s universal voucher program, which critics argue strains public school funding and demands stronger accountability.

These are not abstract policy fights. They strike at the very pillars that built this state: water security and public education.

The question before us is not partisan.

It is foundational.

Are we still building for the long term?