The following column originally .

There is a concerted effort underway in Washington to undermine and overturn the very policies that have made states like ours economic leaders.

One of our states, Texas, does not have an income tax, while Arizona just a low flat income tax. Our states’ regulatory burdens are light, education innovation is encouraged, and parents have choices where they send their kids to school. We are also right-to-work states, meaning labor union membership is strictly voluntary.

That our states embrace policies like these makes it no coincidence that we regularly show up on lists of the country’s fastest-growing states or states that offer the best business environments.

But some officials on Capitol Hill and within the Biden administration have spent the past several months attempting to put handcuffs on our pro-growth strategy.

When the American Rescue Plan Act passed in March, Treasury officials told states they better not think about cutting taxes. The administration later that states could extend relief to their taxpayers under certain circumstances, which were laid out in a Treasury that makes its point in a brisk 150 pages.

Congress got in on the micromanagement act and added a dose of fealty to anti-school-choice special interests with buried in an appropriations bill that says public charter schools shouldn’t be able to contract with private sector entities like school lunch providers or back-office help if they want to maintain access to federal funds. Some schools might be forced to shut down and their students would be left in the lurch, but maybe that’s the point. Not surprisingly, the bill says nothing about educational quality or student performance.

Congress and the administration come together in bigfooting the states on the Protecting the Right to Organize, or , which would eliminate voluntary union membership and states’ right to work laws. The bill has and Senate Majority Leader (D-N.Y.) says he’ll bring his chamber’s version of the bill to a vote if he can convince a few more Democratic holdouts to come on board.

Not only does the PRO Act crowbar union-backed labor policy into states’ workplace laws, but it eviscerates labor mobility and worker choice.

Want to be an independent contractor? Not so fast, says the PRO Act, which attempts to bring California’s unpopular AB 5 law — which voters there amended last November after app-based gig workers protested — to the rest of the country, making it much harder to be an independent contractor. Fewer independent contractors means more potential union members.

These heavy-handed top-down approaches to lawmaking not only turn federalism on its ear, but they also create a drag on the post-pandemic economic recovery at the very moment we should be incentivizing creative thinking to spark job growth. Instead, Congress and the administration have embraced the tedious sort of policies that have caused millions of Americans to pull up stakes and move to more welcoming economic climates like ours.

Arizona and Texas have proven that if given the opportunity to innovate in our laboratories of democracy that we can help cultivate environments that encourage and accelerate job growth. If you’re looking for examples on how to bounce back after more than a year of pandemic-induced disruptions, look to our states.

Our states are moving quickly. We don’t expect that Washington will take a lesson from us, but it shouldn’t force us to adopt policies that will only slow us down.

Danny Seiden is the president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Glenn Hamer is the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business.

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Cindy McCain, the widow of longtime Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain, is reported to be among those being considered for an ambassador position by President Joe Biden.

McCain, who holds a legacy of her own in the state as a businesswoman, philanthropist and humanitarian, told the national media last week that she would willingly accept a post if the president offers it. 

“In whatever way he sees fit, I would be proud and honored to serve,” McCain CNN. 

McCain is reportedly being considered for U.S. ambassador to the , the food assistance branch of the United Nations. 

Since 1962, the WFP has been fighting hunger and famine since 1962. Right now, it is taking on its largest scale-up ever in response to COVID-19, providing meals to 109 million of the world’s most vulnerable people in more than 80 countries this year.

Continuing tradition as independent thinker

Cindy McCain is a lifelong Republican, but she endorsed Democrat Biden during his campaign. 

At the time, McCain said that she and her late husband put “country first” and she supported Biden for several reasons, including his promise to find common ground between the two parties. That was a theme of her husband, who died in August 2018.

Longtime friends with the Bidens 

The McCains were longtime friends with the Bidens even when the two were senators sparring on opposite sides in the U.S. Senate. 

Another well-known Republican from Arizona, former senators Jeff Flake, is also reportedly under consideration for an envoy position. Flake also endorsed Biden during his 2020 campaign. 

Honored for work on behalf of those living under difficult circumstances

McCain has become a beacon worldwide for those living under the most difficult circumstances. Earlier this year, she received the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s highest award, the Heritage Award, which honors those who have helped not only Arizona but the world beyond.

McCain’s work includes creating worldwide awareness about human trafficking. She has flown to the far reaches of the “worst areas of the world” to help those trapped in poverty, suffering from life threatening health conditions, or held hostage in human trafficking rings. 

She has traveled to places like Rwanda, the East Congo and Bangladesh, the country where she adopted her daughter Bridget, whose severe cleft palate was a threat to her life. Nursing Bridget through multiple surgeries motivated McCain to work with Operation Smile. The charity provides free facial surgeries for cleft palates, cleft lips and other malformations. 

Reaching out to war-torn and disaster areas 

In 1988, McCain founded the American Voluntary Medical Team to send medical personnel to disaster-stricken and war-torn developing world countries.  

She has traveled the world to help with the removal of landmines, sent medical supplies to devastated communities, promoted early childhood brain development, and advocated for injured veterans through her involvement with charities like the Eastern Congo Initiative, CARE, HALO Trust, Project C.U.R.E., Too Small to Fail, and Warriors and Quiet Waters. 

Putting an end to human trafficking

McCain has also brought great attention in Arizona, the nation and the world to the plight of women and children who are victims of human trafficking. 

She chairs the Human Trafficking Advisory Council for the . Through her work, new laws have been passed and community initiatives jump started. 

Bringing civility to politics and the internet 

McCain also is carrying on her husband’s wish to bring back civil discourse to politics and the internet through the McCain Institute.

The think tank was founded in 2012 with Arizona State University to “advance leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom, and human dignity, in the United States and around the world.”

“There’s more that unites us than divides us and we should respect our common heritage,” she said. 

Chair of one of nation’s largest Anheuser-Busch distributors 

McCain also is an Arizona businesswoman. Her parents, Marguerite and Jim Hensley, began to grow the Hensley brand when they first brought cold beer to the state in the 1950s.

Today, she is on the board of trustees of her late father’s enterprise, the Hensley Beverage Company, one of the nation’s largest distributors of Anheuser-Busch.

McCain, who has lived all her life in Arizona, has appeared on national news shows and other outlets in recent months, including and magazine, which last month published an excerpt from her new , “Stronger: Courage, Hope, and Humor in My Life with John McCain.”

If the ambassadorship does not happen, McCain said she has plenty to keep her busy. 

“Right now, I’m concentrating on three and a half grandbabies —we have another one on the way —and my work on and human trafficking and human rights’ violations.”

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