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Hobbs, 3 lawmakers honored for Alzheimer's funding in state budget

On Wednesday, Gov. Katie Hobbs and three Arizona lawmakers were honored for including money to tackle Alzheimer’s disease in the state budget that passed in May. 

For the caregivers and their loved ones living with Alzheimer’s, the event at the Alzheimer’s Association was especially meaningful. 

"This is the hardest job I've ever had in my life. And I've had a few tough ones," said Steve Adams, a caregiver who spoke at the event. His wife has early onset Alzheimer’s.

The roughly $5.8 million in the state budget was hard fought, and really, about recognition of a devastating disease.

Hobbs, along with state Sen. T.J. Shope, Rep. Tim Dunn and Rep. Jennifer Longdon, received an award from the association. 

"Alzheimer's should not be a partisan issue, and what we accomplished this year it gives me great optimism for the future," she said.

The funding will go to a public awareness program and new dementia-specific positions at the Arizona Department of Health Services. 

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KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.