HB2317 is being heard in two committees Wednesday at 2 p.m. If you are signed up for Request to Speak please sign in NOW to oppose this bill. I was able to post pretty quickly today.
Griffin wants to us use our tax dollars to pay for a useless wall that is an environmental and human justice disaster. They built sections of the wall right through the San Pedro hurting the river and wildlife habitat. They chopped down our iconic saguaros. It doesn't keep smugglers out. It just forces the undocumented to travel farther and die in the desert.
HB2317 appropriation; border fence construction (Kavanagh: Chaplik, Griffin, et al.) appropriates $150 million to build border wall.
An altered watershed: Where the border wall crosses the San Pedro River:
https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/04/14/border-wall-san-pedro-river-trump-photos/4744000001/
Trump's border wall scarred sacred lands, displaced wildlife and drained water. Can it be taken down?
https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/04/15/arizona-mexico-border-calls-removing-wall-and-repairing-environmental-impacts/4589493001/
I will try to get some more Request to Speak actions out soon. In the meanwhile, here's two more bad bills being heard in committee tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2 p.m. If the system is working well, you might wanna go ahead and do these at the same time.
- HB2536 corporation commissioners; qualifications (Griffin) requires corporation commissioners to be at least 30 years old and have five years experience in business, accounting, finance, economics, or professional engineering. This would disqualify a lot of people who have been or would be excellent commissioners. OPPOSE.
- HB2549 stored water; certificates; impact; accounting (Griffin) requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), when determining if groundwater will be physically available to be withdrawn through future wells for an assured water supply determination, to assume the service area is the same as the boundaries of a municipality or other water provider. It limits ADWR oversight relative to physical availability if it is stored water within the area of impact. It is about stored water and the determinations the ADWR can make about ground water. OPPOSE
NOTE: It looks like Realtor Gail Griffin is trying to limit the ability of the ADWR to regulate ground water – this time in areas outside of municipal areas (like in the Sierra Vista area where she would like to profit from more development.)
DIRECTIONS FOR REQUEST TO SPEAK ACTIONS
Sign On to your Request to Speak account, click the blue Request to Speak button, click on New Request in the nav bar (left column), then simply cut and paste the bill number into Search Phrase (for example:HB2317). Push blue Add Request button, weigh in FOR or AGAINST, click No on Do you wish to speak? (in person), leave a short Comment, and click on SUBMIT. For another submission, click on the New Request link in the nav bar on the left and follow the directions above.
Sign On to your Request to Speak account, click the blue Request to Speak button, click on New Request in the nav bar (left column), then simply cut and paste the bill number into Search Phrase (for example:HB2317). Push blue Add Request button, weigh in FOR or AGAINST, click No on Do you wish to speak? (in person), leave a short Comment, and click on SUBMIT. For another submission, click on the New Request link in the nav bar on the left and follow the directions above.
If you had an account with RTS previously, it is still active. If you do not have an account, go ahead and set one up, but someone will have to help you activate it as it requires going to the Capitol. Reach out to Civic Engagement Beyond Voting.
Bill restricts who can run for Arizona Corporation Commission (that regulates utilities)
ReplyDeletePHOENIX — A House panel voted Tuesday to give Arizonans fewer choices for who sets the rates they're charged by utilities.
The measure crafted by Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, would require candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission to be at least 30 years old and have been a state resident for two or more years.
Moreover, House Bill 2536 would disqualify anyone from running for the commission in 2024 and beyond unless they have at least five years experience in specified areas. These include accounting, business administration, finance, administrative law or professional engineering.
'This is a highly technical job,' said Griffin, who chairs the Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Water. She told colleagues the qualifications were 'suggested'' to her, though she denied they came from the utilities the commission regulates.
But Sandy Bahr, lobbyist for the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club, suggested the requirements were drawn so narrowly as to eliminate other people who have a legitimate role in setting energy policy and rates.
For example, if lawmakers are looking for qualifications, they should also consider those who have training in water or energy policy, she said.
'Why not a background in climate science or a consumer advocate?' said Bahr, whose organization appears before the Corporation Commission to talk about the environmental implications of its decisions.