Stop bills that hurt the ACC's efforts to protect the environment -- or make it harder for us to vote

There are three bad bills being heard in committee. We may be able to stop them from moving forward by opposing them on the Request to Speak system (see bills below.)  Unfortunately, some other bad bills have already gotten through committee and are heading for a vote on the house or senate floor. You can help by calling your legislators and asking then to vote "No."  

If you are registered in the Request to Speak (RTS) system, please, sign in and oppose the following three bills before they go to a committee vote Tuesday at 9 a.m

If you had an account with RTS previously, it is still active. If you do not have an account, you can still set one up for future RTS actions.  Civic Engagement Beyond Voting can help you activate it by going to the Capitol for you. It usually takes a day.

Tuesday, February 23rd
Senate Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM

SB1119 technical correction; taxation; excess withholding (Gowan) will have a strike-everything amendment on attorney general; executive orders. The Sierra Club's legislative update says that it requires the attorney general to review executive orders issued by the President and recommend whether or not the state should ask for an exemption or challenge the order. 

According to Civic Engagement Beyond Voting  SB1119, is now subject to a striker that would allow any member of the Arizona legislature to demand that the Attorney General review a presidential executive order to possibly declare it constitutional.

Either way, this isn't good. SB1119 could prevent Arizona from benefiting from executive orders re-instating environmental and water protections - and cost the state money in the process.

They are also trying to silence the voice of the people by preventing them to vote.  

SB1485 elections; voting center tabulation (Ugenti-Rita) will have a strike-everything amendment on the permanent early voting list; eligibility that is identical to SB1069 and removes people from the Permanent Early Voting List if they did not vote early in two election cycles. OPPOSE.

SB1593 early voting; time limits; envelope (Gowan) reduces the early voting window from 27 days to 22 days; requires a third envelope - an envelope inside an envelope; requires a provisional ballot for PEVL voters that show up in person unless they bring the mailed ballot; and throws out any ballots not postmarked by the Thursday before the Election. OPPOSE.

----

Some bad bills have already gotten through committee and are moving forward to a vote on the house  or senate floor. Please keep up the pressure and contact your legislators, ask them to oppose all four bills. Also consider a phone call to your legislators. You can find the legislators' numbers here.

The attacks on the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and its clean energy rules are still in the mix and inching forward. HB2737 corporation commission actions; investigations (Parker: Barton, Biasiucci, et al.) is ready to go to the House floor. It would allow any legislator to challenge an action by the ACC, sending it to the attorney general who could take it directly to the Arizona Supreme Court. A successful challenge would result in a hit to the ACC budget, affecting its ability to fulfill its responsibilities to regulate utilities and other entities.

HB2248 corporation commission; electric generation resources (Griffin) is also ready to go to the floor.

This bill would prohibit the ACC from moving forward with the clean energy rules or other rule packages.

SB1459 agency decisions; administrative reviews (Petersen), is also advancing to make the ACC subject to the same administrative process as agencies. That is inappropriate as it is a separate branch of government, not just another agency. 

Again... Please keep up the pressure and contact your legislators, ask them to oppose all three bills. Also consider a phone call to your legislators. You can find the legislators' numbers here.