Barbara Leff

Biographical Information

The following is from ALIS for the 49th Arizona State Legislature, 2nd Regular Session (2010):

Barbara Leff
President Pro Tempore  
Republican  District 11
Senate
1700 W. Washington
Room 302
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone Number: (602) 926-4486
Fax Number: (602) 417-3270
Email Address: [email protected]
Home City: Paradise Valley
Occupation: Clinical Social worker, Former Community College Instructor, Former Small Business Owner, & Community Volunteer
Member Since: 1997
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Barbara Leff is the State Senator from District 11 (http://www.barbaraleff.com/district11.htm). She served three terms in the House and is currently in her fourth term in the Senate. Barbara is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Chairman of the Commerce and Economic Development Committee, Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Health and Rules Committees.

Barbara graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor's Degree from Boston University. She also has a Master's Degree in Social Work from Simmons College.

Barbara's work experience includes being a Medical and Psychiatric Social Worker for the Veteran's Administration, a Certified Community College Instructor for the Maricopa County Community College System and the owner of a small retail sporting goods business in Scottsdale. Barbara also has years of experience in the volunteer sector, including running a program that resettled Russian refugees in the Valley. Her focus was to create and run a program to help the refugees be successfully employed and therefore, self-sufficient. Barbara's work and volunteer experiences led her to the world of politics. She volunteered on Jon Kyl's first campaign for the United States Senate, spending many hours working on his behalf.

Barbara has been married to Dr. Edmund Leff for forty years. They have two children. The Leffs have lived in Paradise Valley for thirty years.

Barbara’s legislative achievements include sponsoring bills which improve the quality of health care; prevent frivolous lawsuits; protect social security numbers to prevent identity theft; put felons in jail for life with a third felony conviction;  allow people to ship wine to Arizona and to order wine directly from small wineries; educate children on the prevention of skin cancer and make sure tobacco taxes are used for their intended purpose which is to help people stop smoking. Barbara was also the sponsor of “The Teenage Driver Safety Act,” which places reasonable restrictions on new teenage drivers.

To strengthen Arizona’s economy, Barbara has worked on policies to lower taxes, reduce red tape and encourage entrepreneurship, including her "angel investor" legislation to promote investing in small Arizona technology companies.  In 2009, Barbara sponsored successful legislation (SB 1403) that will bring high paying jobs to Arizona by providing tax incentives for renewable energy manufacturing, research and development and headquarters facilities to locate in Arizona. Arizona should be the leader in the rapidly expanding solar industry and this law will give us the tools we need to accomplish this goal. In 2010 Barbara successfully sponsored legislation (SB1189) that changes the standard used in both civil and criminal actions regarding the admissibility of expert opinion testimony. Arizona will now use the Daubert Standard instead of the Frye standard.  This finally gives defendants protection from the admissibility of junk science and raises the level of expert opinions to those with a true scientific basis.

Barbara is currently a candidate for Arizona State Treasurer.

Barbara has received numerous awards for her work on critical issues and on behalf of her constituents.

Education

Master Science: Social Work, Simmons College, 1971.

Bachelor Arts: Sociology, Boston University, 1969.

Employment

Arizona Legislative Service

Sources

Birth: 2008 Guide to the 48th Legislature (green book); Occupation: green book

Education: 2010 Guide to the Legislature (Greenbook).