Advocate for Water (and other concerns) at the AZ Legislature or on the Request to Speak app

I hope to see some of you at Environmental Day at the Capitol Thursday. Sustainable Tucson's water committee will be there tabling and advocating for water. Dan Stormont will be there to answer your questions about rainwater harvesting! You can listen to a recording of his Sierra Club presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHb6famFFKg

The prospects for positive water legislation are not looking good as no good water bills have yet been scheduled for a hearing (because the majority party will only schedule their own bills). Representative Gail Griffin, the chair of the House Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee, did hear more of her bad water bills, including bills to skew groundwater modeling in the Phoenix Active Management Area. All of these bills were introduced for development interests. Interestingly enough, several were held as they failed to gain enough support to make it out of the committee. That is unusual and a bit of good news.

Scroll down to find more bad water bills (and two good bills). Please, weigh in on them before they are heard in committee. Maybe we can stop some more bad bills.

Sign onto the RTS app:
https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon

Review RTS directions:
https://desktopactivisttucson.blogspot.com/2018/03/request-to-speak-time.html

There are more bad bills to come. If you haven't already, please, register for the RTS system here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform

Helpful Hint: Try entering just the number in the RTS search box if it doesn't go through. Example: 2244 

Monday, January 22nd

Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee at 2:00PM

• HB2244 misbranding; misrepresenting; food products (Nyguyen: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al.) prohibits intentionally misbranding a product that is not derived from livestock or poultry as meat or poultry. This is targeting cell cultured and veggie derived "meat" products. OPPOSE 
• HB2406 agricultural vaccinations; disclosure (Gillette: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al.) This allows the livestock producers to put a label on their product that states that it is vaccine free. The most concerning thing is that it prevents the state veterinarian from requiring or administering a vaccine that has only received emergency approval. OPPOSE
• HCR2002 supporting Arizona's beef producers (Smith: Shamp) includes a lot of misinformation about cattle and expresses the legislature's support for the industry. OPPOSE

Senate Elections Committee at 2:00 PM

• SB1008 voter registration events; posting (Hoffman) requires the Secretary of State and county recorders to post a list of events where they do voter registration. This is a bill to facilitate intimidation. OPPOSE

Tuesday, January 23rd

House Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee at 2:00 PM 
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.

• HB2013 water improvements program; nonprofit corporations (Griffin) includes non-profits for eligibility for these grants. SUPPORT
• HB2096 tiny homes; construction; requirements; exemptions  (B Parker)  Out on rural land counties can't require building permits for tiny homes, accessory dwelling units, detached garages or green houses. Also, no permits required for solar power or wind equipment. SUPPORT
• HB2097 gray water; definition; residential standards (B Parker) includes requirements for the use of gray water. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality already has rules for gray water. This bill would appear to prevent counties and municipalities from restricting gray water use where there's potential for contamination of ground water. OPPOSE 
• HB2123 wells; water measuring devices; prohibition (Smith) prohibits the state or any political subdivisions from requiring water measuring devices on wells in areas where there are rivers. OPPOSE

Wednesday, January 24th

House Municipal Oversight & Elections at 2:00 PM

• HB2547 voting centers ban; precinct size (Jones: Gillette, Kolodin, et al.) prohibits boards of supervisors from establishing voting centers to accommodate additional voting for a specific election as needed. This will limit access to voting. OPPOSE
• HCR2032 voting centers; precinct voting (Jones: B Parker, Smith, et al.) refers the provisions of HB2547 to the ballot. OPPOSE

​​​​Thursday, January 25th

Environmental Day at the Capitol!

https://desktopactivisttucson.blogspot.com/2023/11/preparing-for-environmental-day-at.html

Senate Natural Resources, Energy, Water Committee at 9:00 AM in SHR2.

Presentations:
Driving Efficient Water Use in Industry, Supporting Arizona's Economic Growth - Jessica Hancock, Director of Sustainability - Ecolab
WIFA Overview and Outlook - Chuck Podolak, Director, Water Infrastructure Finance Authority

• SB1081 exemption area; assured water supply (Kerr: Carbone, Dunn) says an area in the Phoenix Active Management Area that is also within an irrigation and water conservation district is deemed to have an assured water supply. This seems like another loophole.  OPPOSE

Senate Judiciary Committee at 9:00 AM in SHR1

• SB1073 obstruction highway; large event; classification (Kavanagh) includes provisions relating to obstruction of a roadway which really means making a protest where you stop traffic a felony. OPPOSE