In these changing times it has become so important to remain politically active, stay informed, hold our politicians and corporations accountable, and keep on top of our representatives to make sure they are representing our best interests. Please, support the actions and issues that matter to YOU. I will do my best to keep up with what is happening in our government and post the latest petitions and calls to action. Please, check in daily.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Sign on to support Santa Cruz River becoming a wildlife refuge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2lOGJL0NOg
To help protect this river, Sonoran Institute partnered with Tucson Audubon Society for a clean-up where 6,000 pounds of waste was removed from the Santa Cruz River. In addition, the Santa Cruz River team has also partnered with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition to expand protections for the fragile yet resilient Santa Cruz River from the border through Santa Cruz and Pima Counties.
Please visit this website and sign on to Support the Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge:
https://santacruzriver.org/letter-of-support/
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Take Action to Oppose Resolution Copper Water Permit that will deplete our water and devastate majestic Oak Flat
First the good news...Governor Hobbs vetoed three more harmful energy and water bills that were passed at the AZ legislature along party lines.
HB2063 exempt wells; certificate; groundwater use (Griffin) would have required the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to issue a certificate of water rights to those with exempt wells (35 gallons per minute or less) that register with the well with ADWR. This would have served to increase rather than decrease pumping.
HB2124 agricultural operations; water; protection; definition (Smith) would have required the court to award attorneys' fees for nuisance claims related to groundwater pumping. This was another bill to protect big pumpers at the expense of those harmed who may have few tools available to them to challenge the pumping.
HB2591 forced labor; child labor; prohibitions (Biasiucci: Dunn, Kolodin, et al.) would have prohibited public power entities, public service corporations, and public entities from engaging in or renewing contracts to procure land, electric vehicles, utility scale batteries, or solar panels from individuals or businesses employing forced labor or oppressive child labor. The bill also mandates that automobile manufacturers furnish certification ensuring compliance with these standards for contracts involving electric vehicles and associated components. While we support prohibiting all of those activities, this is better addressed federally for all products. This bill singles out a few.
Please call the Governor at 602-542-4331 to say thank you to her for vetoing these bills.
Allowing Resolution Copper to pump the water out of the mine shaft and mix it with CAP water to irrigate crops and doing so under weak permitting, is just one more way this mine is harming the region.
The Sierra Club will deliver the petition to ADEQ on May 7th.
https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Arizona?actionId=AR0438546
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Help PLAN TUCSON for our city's future
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND GET INVOLVED:
JOIN PLAN TUCSON FOR A COMMUNITY FORUM
Plan Tucson invites all community members to participate in our upcoming Community Forums, a crucial step in updating the City’s General Plan. This long-range policy document is central to defining the future of Tucson, addressing vital areas such as housing, transportation, climate action, and growth.
These forums will be the last public meetings for Phase 2 of the Plan Tucson Update and the best opportunity to provide critical feedback on policy guidance that will impact how the city addresses housing, sustainability, equity, transportation, and much more before the first draft of the plan is written. Your input will also help update our Future Growth Scenario Map, guiding where and what type of development is encouraged across the city.
Virtual Forum
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
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In-Person Forum
Saturday, May 18, 2024
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Ward 2 Office, 7820 E. Broadway Blvd.
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Both community forums will have prizes, and the in-person event will have food and family-friendly activities.
The Plan Tucson Community Forums aren’t just about shaping policy - they’re about building a better community. The more feedback we receive, the better the plan reflects our shared values and aspirations.
For more information about Plan Tucson and an overview on what has happened through Phase 1 and Phase 2, visit plantucson.tucsonaz.gov.
COMPARTE SUS IDEAS Y PARTICIPA:
ÚNETE CON PLAN TUCSON EN UN FORO COMUNITARIO
Plan Tucson invita a todos los miembros de la comunidad a participar en nuestros próximos Foros Comunitarios, un paso crucial en la actualización del Plan General de la Ciudad. Este documento de política a largo plazo es fundamental para definir el futuro de Tucson, abordando áreas vitales como vivienda, transporte, acción climática y crecimiento.
Estos foros serán las últimas reuniones públicas para la Fase 2 de la Actualización del Plan Tucson y la mejor oportunidad para proporcionar comentarios críticos sobre la orientación política que impactará cómo la ciudad aborda la vivienda, la sostenibilidad, la equidad, el transporte y mucho más antes de que se escriba el primer borrador del plan. Su aporte también ayudará a actualizar nuestro Mapa de Crecimiento Futuro, guiando dónde y qué tipo de desarrollo se fomenta en toda la ciudad.
Foro Virtual
Martes 14 de mayo de 2024
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
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Foro Presencial
Sábado 18 de mayo de 202
10 a.m. - 12 p.m
Oficina del Distrito 2, 7820 E. Broadway Blvd.
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Ambos eventos tendrán premios, y el evento presencial contará con comida y actividades familiares.
Los Foros Comunitarios del Plan Tucson no solo se tratan de dar forma a políticas, sino de construir una comunidad mejor. Cuantos más comentarios recibamos, mejor reflejará el plan nuestros valores y aspiraciones compartidos.
Para obtener más información sobre Plan Tucson y una descripción general de lo que ha ocurrido en la Fase 1 y la Fase 2, visite plantucson.tucsonaz.gov.
Project Contact
Cesar Acosta, Principal Planner
cesar.acosta2@tucsonaz.gov
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Fight HB2124 that encourages over-pumping of groundwater
https://irc-az.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=424810a4667049388ef6df4f0c73098b
https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Last chance to stop dirty bills
Before shutting things down, the Senate passed several bad bills, but did reject some as well, including a harmful bill promoted by Rep Kolodin to allow "brackish groundwater" to help developers get around the assured water supply requirements. That was HB2186. The Senate passed HB2646 power plants; public service corporations (Bliss) 16-11-3 with only Republicans voting yes. This is a bad bill that would extend the life of outdated, expensive, dirty coal plants at the expense of utility ratepayers, setting out-of-reach parameters for their closures, and requiring the Attorney General to be engaged in opposing federal rules that would expedite their retirement. HB2646 seeks to prop up fossil fuel plants in an effort to rescue plants that are incredibly costly to keep in operation. Keeping fossil fuel plants operating longer is at the expense of ratepayers, who are kept on the hook to pay for expensive plants to remain in operation when it is more cost effective to transition to renewable energy like wind, solar, and storage. |
The AZ Senate also passed HB2002 power plants; transmission lines; definition (Griffin). It excludes switchyards and substations from review by the AZ Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee (Committee). The Committee is one of the few entities that considers environmental factors relative to siting and utilities are chipping away at what it applies to both at the Legislature and the Arizona Corporation Commission. This has not yet been transmitted to the governor, but will likely go to her next week. Ask Governor Hobbs to veto this too. You can call the Governor at (602) 542-4331 or use the Governor's website. While you're at it, you can also thank the Governor for vetoing HB2788 United Nations; sustainable development; prohibition. It states that Arizona or any of its political subdivisions cannot adopt the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations. Apparently, the Legislature did not want to support ending poverty, achieving food security, ensuring healthy lives, achieving gender equality, and protecting the planet and our ability to live on it. We're glad the governor does. You can read her veto message here. Below are the potential ballot measures that the Legislature may refer for a vote. These were previously Request to Speak actions but, if you have not done so already, please contact your legislators about opposing them. HCR2032 voting centers; precinct voting (Jones: B Parker, Smith, et al.) would put a measure on the 2024 ballot that prohibits boards of supervisors from establishing voting centers to accommodate additional voting for a specific election as needed. It also eliminates no-excuse mail-in voting, limiting a method of voting used by 80% of Arizonans. If approved, this would result in lower voter turnout. This awaits action in Senate Committee of the Whole. HCR2040 public monies; prohibited expenditures (Smith: Biasiucci, Carbone, et al.) is another one of those referrals. It would place a measure on the 2024 ballot to prohibit the state or any political subdivision, including universities, to spend any public dollars to reduce global temperatures, have a climate action plan, participate in anything related to reducing meat consumption, do anything to address impacts of racism, etc. It wraps this up with a bow related to prohibiting "furthering Marxist ideologies." This awaits action in the Senate Rules Committee. HCR2050 energy source; restriction; prohibition (Griffin: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) would put on the 2024 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit a city, town, county or any other political subdivision of the state from restricting the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the energy source that is either used to power the device or consumed by the device. Device is not defined, but this is clearly intended to preclude any limits on fossil fuel "devices," including gas. This will make it harder to protect our air, our water, our health, and our communities. It awaits action in the Senate Rules Committee. HCR2058 legislative districts; population; census; citizenship (Heap: Chaplik, Gillette, et al) would put a measure on the 2024 ballot to require a state census that the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) must use to determine legislative districts based on citizenship population. This is a direct attack on the IRC and would subvert US census data to dilute and attack communities, as well as being an expensive replication of the work done by the US Census Bureau. If successfully referred and approved, it would impact minority districts disproportionately. This awaits action in the Senate Rules Committee. SCR1041 ballot measures; challenges (Mesnard) refers a measure that allows challenges to proposed ballot measures by any person and earlier in the process. This would hinder citizen ballot measures as they could be challenged while people are still collecting signatures. This awaits action by the House Rules Committee. To find out who your legislators are, find your district here: https://irc-az.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=424810a4667049388ef6df4f0c73098b Use that district to find contact info on your representatives: https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/ Use that district to find contact info on your senator: |
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Urge Governor Hobbs to veto HB2788 that prohibits Arizona from doing anything in the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Monday, April 1, 2024
Stop bills that make it harder to vote from going on the ballot
No new bills will be heard in committees, so there will be no Request to Speak this week. For a lot of the bad environmental bills, it looks like it will be mostly party line votes and hopefully, a veto by the Governor. Sadly, there are few positive bills moving. Legislators never heard bills to advance environmental justice, bills to limit groundwater pumping, bills to protect rivers and streams, bills to help address climate change, and bills to protect our air and water.
Key concerns at this point in the session are measures that bypass the Governor and go directly to the ballot. There are several of those outstanding, including HCR2032 voting centers; precinct voting (Jones: B Parker, Smith, et al.). It would put a measure on the 2024 ballot that prohibits boards of supervisors from establishing voting centers to accommodate additional voting for a specific election as needed. It also eliminates no-excuse mail-in voting, limiting a method of voting used by 80% of Arizonans. If approved, this would result in lower voter turnout.
You can find numbers for senators here.
More info. here:
GOP wants to scrap Arizona early voting. The plan is 1 vote away from the November ballotSaturday, March 23, 2024
Sign petitions to your legislators on bad bills for the environment
For this legislative update we are focusing more on some bills that we think might come to the floor next week, especially two referrals. The referrals cannot be vetoed, so need special attention. Please, sign these petitions from the Sierra Club to urge your legislators to vote "no" on these terrible bills. |
Please take action and tell your representatives to oppose SB1221. It sets up an impossible process for establishing basin management areas and codifies current overpumping of rural groundwater. |
HCR2040 public monies; prohibited expenditures (Smith: Biasiucci, Carbone, et al.) is one of those referrals. It would place a measure on the 2024 ballot to prohibit the state or any political subdivision, including universities, to do anything to help reduce global temperatures, have a climate action plan, participate in anything related to reducing meat consumption, etc. It wraps this up with a bow related to prohibiting "furthering Marxist ideologies." It is clearly intended to connect all of these issues and motivate voters who fear that there is a vast conspiracy to make this a better world. |
HCR2050 energy source; restriction; prohibition (Griffin: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) passed out of the Senate Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee along party lines on Thursday. It would put on the 2024 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit a city, town, county or any other political subdivision of the state from restricting the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the energy source that is either used to power the device or consumed by the device. Device is not defined, but this is clearly intended to preclude any limits on fossil fuel "devices," including gas. This will make it harder to protect our air, our water, our health, and our communities. |
Arizona has roughly 28 million acres of federal public lands. These places provide extensive opportunities for recreation and key habitat and corridors for numerous animal species. Public lands provide us with clean air and clean water, and they, like other lands in our state, are all Indigenous lands -- that should be part of the context of what happens with them. The AZ Legislature has frequently sought more control of our federal public lands, attempting to privatize and eliminate or weaken protections for the land, water, and wildlife. These bills have been vetoed by Republican governors and also defeated overwhelmingly on the ballot. Arizonans love our public lands. Please tell your senator to vote no on bills that seek to hinder protection of public lands and waters. Read more about them and take action here. Take action to protect public lands: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Arizona?actionId=AR0426717 |
Monday, March 18, 2024
Sneaky strike-everything amendments reword approved bills and other bad bills prohibit environmental actions @ AZ Legislature
Strike-everything sneaks in new bills |
This week the Senate continued to advance many bad policies, including HCR2040, which passed along party lines.
HCR2040 public monies; prohibited expenditures (Smith: Biasiucci, Carbone, et al.) would place a measure on the 2024 ballot to prohibit the state or any political subdivision, including universities, to do anything to help reduce global temperatures, have a climate action plan, participate in anything related to reducing meat consumption, etc. It wraps this up with a bow related to prohibiting "furthering Marxist ideologies."
Tell your senator to vote no on HCR2040! You can find their phone number here.
Request to Speak on the following bills before they are heard in their respective committees.
Sign onto the RTS app:
https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon
Monday, March 18th
Senate Transportation, Technology, and Missing Children Committee at 2:00 PM
- HCR2049 ballot measures; challenges (Carter) will have a strike-everything amendment on freedom to move would put on the 2024 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit limits on vehicle miles travelled or having any fee based on vehicle miles traveled. The latter is one of the ways to fund roads as gas taxes continue to dwindle. Limiting traffic can improve our air quality is part of the clean air plans. OPPOSE
- HB2734 affordable housing; parking requirements; prohibition (now: public hearings; voting) (Ortiz: Biasiucci, Peña) will have a strike-everything amendment to limit public hearings on zoning ordinances. OPPOSE
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at 2:00 PM
- SB1052 all-terrain vehicles; definition (Carroll: Farnsworth, Cook) increases the allowable weight for all-terrain vehicles from 2500 to 3000. Heavier vehicles do more damage and kick up more dust in unpaved areas. OPPOSE
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.
- SCR1041 ballot measures; challenges (Mesnard) refers a measure that allows challenges to proposed ballot measures by any person and earlier in the process -even before the election. Just another way to keep citizens' initiatives from getting on the ballot. OPPOSE
NOTE: There are a bunch of strike everything amendments that haven't been posted yet, Please check back later in the week.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Easy week for Requests to Speak!
WHEW! Easy week... |
There aren't many Request to Speak actions this week because most of these bills were previously in the other chamber of the legislature and we commented on them there.
Enjoy Wednesday's presentation on state parks, if you choose to view that!Request to Speak on the following bills before they are heard in their respective committees.
Sign onto the RTS app:
https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon
Monday, March 11th
- HCR2058 legislative districts; population; census; citizenship (Heap: Chaplik, Gillette, et al) would put a measure on the 2024 ballot to require a state census that the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) must use to determine legislative districts based on citizenship population. This is a direct attack on the IRC and would subvert US census data to dilute and attack communities. OPPOSE
Senate Government Committee at 9:00 AM
- HCR2056 preferential treatment; discrimination; prohibition (Montenegro: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) prohibits addressing the impacts of racism and discrimination by prohibiting any actions based on race or ethnicity. OPPOSE
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.
- Presentation on State Parks
Senate Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 9:00 AM
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.
- HB2022 conservation easements; maintenance; weeds (Griffin) requires the holder of a conservation easement to maintain the property when this is the responsibility of the property owner. This bill would discourage conservation easements. OPPOSE
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Request to Speak actions for week of March 2nd... and one last chance to contact your legislators on bad energy bill (HCR 2050)
This week I have included some bad voting bills because it makes it difficult to advocate for the environment if we can’t vote.
Unfortunately, HCR 2050 made it through committee and awaits a Third Read vote in the house. If it passes it will put this horrific bill on the ballot. Governor Hobbs won't be able to veto it! If you haven't already, please, reach out to your legislators using the Sierra Club’s petition (link below).
HCR2050 energy source; restriction; prohibition (Griffin: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) would put on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit a city, town, county or any other political subdivision of the state from restricting the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the energy source that is either used to power the device or consumed by the device. Device is not defined, but this is clearly intended to preclude any limits on fossil fuels, including gas. This will make it harder to protect our air, our water, our health, and our communities.
Take action against HCR2050 here.
Request to Speak on the following bills before they are heard in their respective committees.
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
Monday, March 4th
Senate Elections Committee at 2:00 PM
- HB2404 voter registration cards; mailing limitation (Gillette: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) prohibits the county recorder from providing an initial or updated voter registration card to a person whose mailing address is outside of Arizona except for active military members and those for whom there is no Arizona mail address. This would exclude students. OPPOSE
- HB2482 voter registration changes; text notice (Parker B) requires county recorders to notify people either via text or in writing if they make any changes to their voting records and provide them with information on how they can check their record and make any changes needed. This is a good transparency measure and a service to voters. SUPPORT
- HB2852 voter registrations; organizations; prohibition (Heap: Chaplik, Gillette, et al) prohibits the state and any city, town, county or political subdivision from participating as a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). The state can’t provide information to ERIC (a trusted non-profit organization that makes sure people don’t register to vote in more than one state). Instead, they must hire a third-party contractor. OPPOSE
Senate Finance and Commerce Committee at 2:00PM
- HB2007 subdivided lands; civil penalties (Griffin) says a civil penalty for a subdivider or agent who engages in unlawful practice with respect to the sale or lease of subdivided lands applies to each lot where a violation occurs rather than all of the lots combined. This is positive because it increases the penalty for unscrupulous developers. SUPPORT
House Municipal Affairs and Public Safety at 2:00 PM
- SCR1042 support; Texas; southern border (Bolick: Bennett, Borrelli, et al) supports Texas's unlawful and harmful activities along its border with Mexico that have resulted in the deaths of immigrants. OPPOSE