Empowering Today’s Youth bill SB1157 was signed by Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ) on March 25th to establish a special plate for Arizona 4-H. SB1157 was sponsored by Arizona State Senator Sine Kerr (R- LD13). Arizona State Representative Tim Dunn (R-LD13) sponsored HB2375. The initiative was established and managed by the Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation.
Deb Lester, Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation director said in her testimony in front of the Senate Transportation committee in support of SB1157 “Arizona 4-H has been around since 1902, nationally, and since George Peabody started a boy’s cotton club in 1913 in Chandler. We now have clubs and projects focused on turning a youths spark into mastery. Projects in Arizona 4-H are wide reaching from caring for your pet rabbit, experiences for creating underwater robotics, designing sustainable greenhouses, using Augmented Reality to imagine Floating Farms, train the family dog, clubs for Healthy Living Ambassadors, or raising a steer, plus over 100 other areas of learning by doing.”
Deb Lester continued in her testimony “Our work to create high quality positive youth development programs is long and hard but rewarded every time we see one of our 4-H youth members reach a successful milestone. Their creative thinking, involvement in your communities and an attitude of “making the best better”, as in our motto, happens every day in 4-H. So we respectfully ask your support of Senate Bill 1157, so that we can offer our high quality programs, to 20,000 youth enrolled youth by 2025. It’s a big job, but with revenue generated from this special license plate, our talented team of University of Arizona Cooperative Extension 4-H professionals and all of our volunteers the sky is our limit.”
Arizona 4-H State Ambassador President, Amelia Brackett (Mohave County 4-H Member, Kingman, AZ) in her testimony to the Arizona State Senate Transportation Committee shared “Now, in my thirteenth and last year of 4-H, as the Arizona 4-H Ambassador President, I continue to focus my efforts on inspiring other young people to get involved in 4-H because I know the skills and experiences they gain will stay with them for a lifetime, just as I know it will for me. When reflecting on all my own experiences in 4-H, I realize how important the funding of the Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation has been on my 4-H journey. Through their fundraising endeavors, they ensure that money does not stand in the way of opportunity for a 4-H member. This is why I support the Empowering Today’s Youth licensing plate bill.”
Arizona 4-H State Communications Ambassador, Sadie Parent (Pima County 4-H Member, Tucson, AZ) said of her efforts in regards to the initiative “I spoke before the Arizona House of Representatives Transportation Committee to support House Bill 2375, “Empowering Today’s Youth” special plate. These special plates would benefit the Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation, which provides financial support for 4-H programs and individuals across the state. 4-H has instilled in me the value of civic engagement, and I believe that speaking up is a critical way of giving back. The 4-H program has been instrumental in expanding my comfort zone and has equipped me with the tools to not only be a productive member of my community, but an active and engaged one. I have had many opportunities to advocate for myself, as well as for issues that I believe in during my time in 4-H; these opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and recently gave me the chance to advocate for 4-H on an even larger level.”
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Associate Director, Jeremy Elliott-Engel said “the Arizona 4-H program is indebted to sponsors Senator Kerr and Representative Dunn for sponsoring the Empowering Today’s Youth special plate bill. The revenue from the special plate will support intentional investments in positive youth development in every Arizona county. Creating opportunities for youth today has generational impacts on the economic and community viability for generations.”