Push Back on Bills that Target Tucson: Our Water, Solar & More

HB2263 would empty our recharge ponds in Avra Valley

This week many of  the bills at the AZ Leg are targeting what many Tucsonans value.

There are bills that attack renewable energy, while propping up fossil fuels. (Hmm... I wonder who is donating to these legislators?) There are bills that waste money on immigration enforcement (that's a federal responsibility anyway) and two on AI (a faulty tool for enforcement.) But the bills that really get my goat are the ones prohibiting Tucson Water from doing its good work on Colorado River water management.  (HB2263 and HB2099) Rep. Griffin is trying to get her hands on Tucson's water!   

Sign into the Request to Speak system: https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon

If you haven't signed up for the system, you can find the form here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform

NOTE: One of the bills that passed out of the House Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee this week was HB2267. It establishes that any utility-scale solar or wind project that is built within four miles of a residence is automatically considered a public nuisance, meaning these are automatically considered harmful. It would also define other renewable energy projects as public nuisances, regardless of location, unless they obtain a certificate of environmental compatibility from the Arizona Corporation Commission. The bill has been revised so it no longer outlaws residential rooftop solar. Yay! I wonder if our comments helped get that removed.  Use this link to send a message to your two House representatives and ask them to vote NO on HB2267! https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Arizona?actionId=AR0600920 REQUEST TO SPEAK BILLS FOR THIS WEEK

Please use the Request to Speak app to weigh in on the bills (below) before they are heard in their respective committees. After signing into the system and clicking on New Request, you can simply copy and paste the bill number into SEARCH PHRASE, SEARCH then click on ADD REQUEST.  

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

Keep an eye out for the four bills we support: SB1598, HB2843, HB2845, and SB1677.

Monday, February 16th House Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee at 2:00 P.M. Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2845 appropriation; Del Rio Springs; park (Bliss) appropriates $750,000 to the Arizona state parks board for development and necessary infrastructure at Del Rio Springs for a state park. I am sure they will need more funding for this, but it is definitely worth protecting. SUPPORT House Public Safety and Law Enforcement Committee Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2416 appropriation; DPS; local border support (Nguyen) appropriates $20 million for more border enforcement activities. As if we have not already spent enough or militarized the border enough. OPPOSE Tuesday, February 17th   Senate Natural Resource Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1200 assured water supply; certificate; model (Shope) requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources to review an application for a certificate of assured water supply if requested and requires it to use models that will misrepresent the available water. This is to allow those without assured water supplies to get a designation within the Phoenix AMA. OPPOSE SB1785 water storage facility; withdrawals; area (Petersen) requires the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources to assume that a recovery well for stored water is within the area of impact if the applicant does not submit a hydrologic study and adds some additions to allowable locations for recovery wells. Not requiring a hydrologic study and allowing recovery wells outside of the storage facility boundaries seem to be loopholes that allow for pumping water that is not actually in the storage facility. OPPOSE Senate Appropriations, Transportation, and Technology Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1088 appropriation; Arizona homeland security; cybersecurity (Carroll) appropriates $2.5 million to the Arizona Department of Homeland Security and requires $500,000 go to generative artificial intelligence for cybersecurity. In addition to the huge environmental impacts of generative AI, it has proven to be very bad at creating secure systems. OPPOSE SB1156 appropriation; short-term detention holds (Rogers: Finchem) appropriates $20 million for short-term detention holds. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Why are we paying $20 million of our limited state funds for this? OPPOSE SB1332 light rail expansion; participation; prohibition (Kavanagh) prohibits the state from participating in any light rail expansion until they do this economic feasibility study. The timeline makes it appear that this bill is trying to stop the (already in progress) Rio East-Dobson streetcar extension. If this project is stopped we will lose $15.9 million in federal grants. OPPOSE SB1598 appropriation; schools; community gardens (Alston: Connolly, Sandoval) appropriates $500,000 for grants for community gardens at schools. SUPPORT SB1677 appropriation; salt cedar mitigation (Dunn) appropriates $500,000 for salt cedar mitigation along the Gila River. Getting rid of water thirsty salt cedar is a good thing. SUPPORT SB1707 appropriation; artificial intelligence; border security (Rogers) appropriates $5 million for using AI on border security. AI has proven to be very ineffective in policing and has a huge environmental footprint. OPPOSE House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 2:00 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2099 long-term storage credits; shortage; prohibition (Griffin) prohibits municipal water providers from getting credit for stored Colorado River water during times of shortages. This prohibits Tucson from getting long-term storage credits for water left in Lake Mead. This is a blatant attack on Tucson Water for wisely managing our Colorado River resources.  OPPOSE  HB2263 Colorado River water; replenishment; restriction (Griffin) limits replenishment of Colorado River water to that associated with the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District. This bill would appear to prohibit Tucson Water from storing CAP water in the Avra Valley, which is how they serve Colorado River water to Tucson Water customers. OPPOSE HB2492 urban growth boundaries; prohibition (Taylor) says no city, county, or other state entity can implement or enforce directly or indirectly any act that would limit urban sprawl or limit extension of services. This is just to accommodate even more runaway sprawl -- as if we did not have enough. OPPOSE HB2757 Butler Valley; La Paz; groundwater (Griffin: Blackman) allows the interbasin transfer of groundwater from Butler Valley to any place in La Paz County. Essentially this will be draining one groundwater basin to provide water for another basin that doesn't have enough groundwater. OPPOSE HB2843 portable solar power devices; requirements (Contreras P: Aguilar, Cavero, et al) allows customers to install and use "portable solar generation devices" or balcony solar without utility approval, fees, or additional equipment requirements if the devices meet national safety and electrical standards. Prohibits cities, towns and counties from requiring permits, inspections or additional local approvals for compliant portable solar generation devices. SUPPORT HB2889 appropriation; uranium monitoring; mine inspector (Tsosie) appropriates a million dollars for the mine inspector to monitor uranium mining impacts in Arizona. The mine inspector is not the one to look at soil and water contamination. That office has no expertise with this. It's a good idea, but perhaps have the environmental (ADEQ) and health agencies do this. OPPOSE  HB2915 tax reduction fund; renewable energy (Marshall: Heap) is a nonsensical bill that establishes a fund related to a "property value reducing renewable energy project" to pay property owners, but it just assumes that any solar or wind project of 100 MW or more reduces the value of property, which is not the case. OPPOSE HB2918 renewable energy equipment; valuation; depreciation (Marshall: Heap) establishes punitive taxes (an increase from 20% to 100%) for renewable energy equipment. It's an attempt to make solar energy more expensive so fossil fuels can compete. OPPOSE HB4025 study committee; gas; petroleum; refinery (Carter P) establishes this committee to look at the availability of gas and oil and to look at the feasibility of constructing refineries. OPPOSE Wednesday, February 18th Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SCR1027 general election day; all offices (Mesnard) is a proposed constitutional amendment that would go to the ballot. It requires that a general election for city, town and school district officials must take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even numbered year -- at the same time as the state general elections. This is a direct attack on Tucson, which holds their city office elections on odd years. OPPOSE

Do your homework on RTA Next

RTA Next pays for wildlife crossing like this one over Oracle Road 

How should someone who cares about the environment vote on Props. 418 and 419? It is a complicated issue. WMG has joined Living Streets Alliance in advocating that we vote "No" because they want more budgeted for complete streets (green infrastructure, and safe infrastructure for bike riders, pedestrians, and transit riders.) But all of that is included in the proposed RTA Next road widening projects. There is also money for safety features like HAWKs. If this is passed they will finally add more buses and much needed bus routes. If it doesn't pass, the 10 million dollar shortfall will mean that we will lose many of the routes we already have. How is that sustainable? They are assuming the people of Tucson would approve another budget with more money for bike trails and green infrastructure. But if the responses on Nextdoor are any indication, that is highly unlikely. This is a "car town." Most people's priority is streets and getting those damn potholes fixed. The RTA Next budget includes money to repave the arterial and connector streets. If this doesn't pass - no one will get what they want.

Today Dan and I attended a meeting with the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. That environmental organization has advocated for years for RTA to pay for desperately needed wildlife crossings of I-10 at Avra Valley Road and Cienega Creek (like the successful wildlife crossing over Oracle Road.) This is important because the genetic diversity of wildlife is diminished when they are isolated by these traffic barriers, leading to population decreases of a number of species - especially bighorn sheep.

Mule deer safely cross over Oracle Road

https://www.sonorandesert.org/2026/01/13/a-vote-for-props-418-419-is-a-vote-for-wildlife-linkages

Map of priority biological resources of the Sonoran Desert conservation plan: 

ecf5e3ab-d4d2-4251-8374-94926f83c72c

RTA Next is definitely not perfect - everyone can find something to dislike in it. But something is better than nothing.

Check it out yourself:

https://rtanext.com/wp-content/docs/next/RTA-Next-Plan-Final-Approved-8-25-2025.pdf
More information:

RTA Next vote explained: What Props 418 and 419 mean for Pima County

Ballots are arriving this week for Propositions 418 and 419 — collectively known as RTA Next — asking voters to extend the half-cent sales tax for another two decades.

Urge AZ Legislators to Save our Solar and Water

HB2267 makes residential solar illegal

Whew!  We have narrowed it down to 31 Request to Speak actions this week. So many bad bills that make transitioning to clean energy more difficult; while other bills allow installation of fossil fuel and nuclear generators without environmental certification. There are even some to force through data centers. One bill would make our residential solar installation illegal! Gail Griffin has so many destructive water bills that she had to schedule two meetings of the House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee this week. You will also find bills to make it harder to vote and that hurt wildlife. 

The bright side is that one of the 31 bills is one we recommend supporting (Look out for SB1488).

Please do what you can. You might want to do the ones that start on Wednesday in a second shift.

Sign into the Request to Speak system: https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon If you haven't signed up for the system, you can find the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform Directions on how to navigate the system: https://desktopactivisttucson.blogspot.com/2018/03/request-to-speak-time.html r Monday, February 9th Senate Federalism Committee at 1:30 P.M.  Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1281 federal government; land acquisition; consent  (Farnsworth) requires that the governor and legislature approve any sale or transfer of private land to the federal government. This is a measure to block acquisitions to protect lands around the headwaters of rivers and springs, inholdings, and to otherwise protect blocks of public lands or areas with special habitat or cultural resources. It also would interfere with private property rights and is unconstitutional on several levels. OPPOSE Senate Military Affairs and Border Security at 1:30 P.M. Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1520 agencies; immigration; data sharing (Rogers: Finchem) mandates that the state and any state agency must share data requested by the U.S. government relating to unauthorized noncitizens, undocumented immigrants, and visa overstays. OPPOSE House Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee at 2:00 P.M.  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2100 small land subdivision; requirements (Griffin) allows for skirting subdivision requirements and thus avoids requirements for assured water supply. OPPOSE HB2159 Mexican wolves; landowner permits; rules (Diaz)  would allow the killing of Mexican gray wolves by landowners in Arizona. The bill would authorize private individuals, through permits issued by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, to kill wolves on private and/or public lands. In some cases, the Game and Fish Department would be required to issue those permits at the direction of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. This bill is contrary to the Endangered Species Act which protects the Mexican gray wolf as a listed species. OPPOSE HB2497 right to hunt; fish; harvest (Way) undermines Arizona Game and Fish authority relative to wildlife regulation by asserting the Arizona Legislature has exclusive authority over regulation of wildlife and says they "may" delegate it to Game and Fish. They have already delegated it via Title 17, so are they trying to pull it back. Hunting is a privilege, not a right. OPPOSE HB2787 federal nullification; Mexican wolf; reintroduction (Diaz) prohibits the state from administering, enforcing, or cooperating or spending any money on Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and recovery. This is another short-sighted bill to hinder wolf recovery. OPPOSE Tuesday, February 3rd   Senate Natural Resource Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1488 appropriation; coal-impacted workforce; study (Hatathlie: Diaz, Epstein, et al) establishes a coal-impacted communities study committee and appropriates $600,000 to the Office of Economic Opportunity to conduct a workforce development study on the communities in Coconino County impacted by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station. SUPPORT House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 2:00 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2027 physical availability; review; designated providers (Griffin) prohibits the ADWR from using the Pinal AMA method of calculating the physical availability of groundwater to a municipality in the Phoenix AMA that has an assured water supply designation. It requires the ADWR Director to review the physical availability of groundwater and stored water of each municipality in the Phoenix AMA with an assured water supply designation. This is an attempt to stop enforcement of the Groundwater Management Act and to create more loopholes, the last thing we need. OPPOSE  HB2028 DWR; application; administrative completeness (Griffin) makes licenses from ADWR appealable agency actions, allowing an opportunity for developers and others to sue earlier in the process before a decision is final. It would create even more chaos relative to our water. OPPOSE HB2031 grandfathered right; Willcox AMA; extension (Griffin) extends through the end of the year the amount of time someone has to file for grandfather rights. This AMA has been around for two years -- that should be plenty of time. OPPOSE HB2094 assured water supply; certificate; model (Griffin) requires the ADWR to review the merits of an application for a certificate of assured water supply in the Phoenix active management area (AMA) and issue a new determination within 15 days if certain criteria are met, including if the application was submitted on or after January 26, 2021, and on or before May 31, 2023. The bill also directs use of long-term storage credits, which may be "paper water" that's not physically available to the site of the application. For Salt River and Lower Hassayampa, the bill directs ADWR to approve the application using outdated groundwater models that have recently been updated. This bill promotes unsustainable water use. OPPOSE HB2095 assured water supply; well depth (Griffin) weakens the definition of physically available relative to depth to water as part of an assured water supply determination for a subdivision. Another way to get around the assured water supply. OPPOSE HB2102 domestic water improvement districts; hauling (Griffin) allows an improvement district to be established in a subsequent AMA in order to pump groundwater for water hauling. This weakens the protections for these AMAs. OPPOSE HB2933 groundwater transportation fee; counties; fund (Biasiucci: Griffin) deposits fees in the general fund of counties where groundwater is being hauled out of the county. The problem is, you can't drink money. OPPOSE HB2934 Harquahala; groundwater transportation fee (Biasiucci: Griffin) is like 2933, except for the Harquahala INA. OPPOSE  HB2986 department of environmental quality; program (Griffin) is the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality omnibus bill that is mostly clean-up relating to lead acid battery fee collection, pushes the date out on conditional enactment for air quality state implementation plan revisions, and removes funding for recycling of used oil. It weakens environmental protections.OPPOSE  Wednesday, February 11th Environmental Day at the Capitol 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM House Judiciary Committee at 9:00 AM  Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2136 civil terrorism; disorderly conduct; subversion (Way) attempts to define things like disorderly conduct (that might happen at a rally) as civil terrorism which is treated like a felony. OPPOSE HB2862 unlawful masking; violation (Nguyen) makes it a crime to wear a mask for the purpose of concealing your identity in a public gathering. This is overly broad which means you couldn't even wear a covid mask. This is probably unconstitutional. OPPOSE  Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1568 early ballots; registration signatures; curing (Hoffman) requires that people submit a new signature every five years in order for their early ballot to be counted. OPPOSE Thursday, February 12th House Artificial Intelligence Committee at 9:00 AM  Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2456 small modular reactors; zoning; co-location (Wilmeth) prohibits counties from doing anything to restrict or regulate small modular nuclear reactors if they are co-located with large energy users like data centers. OPPOSE HB2457 public utilities; plant construction; colocation (Wilmeth) loosens requirements for siting power plants as long as they are co-located with large electricity users. OPPOSE   House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 12:30 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2267 public nuisance; renewable energy; exceptions (Marshall) declares any renewable energy project to be a public nuisance, unless it was permitted before the amendment was approved, it has a certificate of environmental compliance, or it is a non-exporting rooftop installation. (Note that this would make residential solar installations connected to the grid - as most are - illegal.) It further requires the attorney general to take action in superior court to prevent any of these projects from being completed (which will make the AG's office very busy) and will essentially kill any solar or wind development in Arizona.  OPPOSE HB2425 auditor general; state lands; audit (Griffin) mandates a special audit of the State Land Department relative to solar leases, land sales initiated by the Commissioner, etc. Why not mining or grazing leases or other commercial leases? This is just targeting certain activities. OPPOSE HB2755 state land use; highest; best (Griffin: Blackman) says if there is a conflict between mining and another use the Commissioner has to assume that mining is the highest and best use. OPPOSE HB2781 decommissioning; solar energy; standards; fund (Carter N) places special requirements on solar energy generation, unlike fossil fuels, and requires a decommissioning plan for solar which would include a decommissioning bond. This is intended to be another barrier for solar. OPPOSE HB2913 county land commissioner; state lands (Biasiucci: Carter P, Diaz, et al) adds a land commissioner for each county. Why are they creating more government relative to state trust lands? This was not requested by the counties. This is also throwing our tax money away. OPPOSE HB2943 state land oversight board; establishment (Marshall: Heap) establishes an elected state land oversight board, but focuses it on things like looking at allegations related to the Business Bill of Rights. It seems like one more way for the mining, livestock, and development interests to exert pressure on the State Land Department. OPPOSE HB2956 state trust lands; public auction (Martinez) says people who lease state trust lands can buy them unless they have a solar or wind lease. This is clearly discriminatory toward solar, but also likely violates the constitution. OPPOSE HB2975 state lands; solar score; maps (Heap: Marshall) says the state land department cannot use solar score maps or other similar types of evaluation of state trust lands. OPPOSE HB2985 CAP water; state land; allocation (Griffin) says the State Land Department has to develop a process for distribution of its allocation of CAP water to state lands to be sold or leased which will promote development. OPPOSE   HB4009 data centers; state lands; map (Weninger) requires the state land department to identify the highest and best places for data centers in consultation with the computer data center industry.  OPPOSE

Howl against data centers, bad energy policy and legislative overreach (and to protect this little guy)

Howling against harmful bills 

This week's actions include a number of bills related to bad energy policies and data centers. There are also bills that try to limit the power of the Attorney General to protect our resources and health. There is a bill that limits actions to reintroduce the Mexican Grey Wolf. Please weigh in on these harmful bills before they are heard in their respective committees.

Sign into the Request to Speak system: https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon If you haven't signed up for the system, you can find the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform Directions on how to navigate the system: https://desktopactivisttucson.blogspot.com/2018/03/request-to-speak-time.html On the bright side, the Sierra Club is hosting some learning opportunities to prepare you for Environmental Day at the Capitol. Don't forget to sign up! February 5th at 6PM - Extreme Heat and Policy -- watch here.    February 6th at 6PM - Bills, Bills, Bills! - Learn a bit more about a few of the bills we will be lobbying on - watch here.  and here.  Environmental Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, February 11th, 8:30am - 2:00pm. This is your opportunity to express your concerns with your legislators or be there to support other advocates. The Sierra Club has simple online training and one-sheets on bills they promote. This rewarding event is a great way to meet other like-minded people who also care about the environment. Transportation and lunch is provided. Be sure to register now - especially if you want a ride on the bus (as the bus fills up quickly).  https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po000019vMfuIAE Monday, February 2nd House Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee at 2:00 P.M.  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2167 attorney general; nuisance action; damages (Diaz) makes the Attorney General liable for damages to anyone injured in a public nuisance action filed by the Attorney General. This is an attempt to shut down Attorney General actions to protect our state's waters and health. OPPOSE HB2168 public nuisance action; consent requirement (Diaz) requires the Attorney General to obtain consent from the Board of Supervisors before bringing a public nuisance action. Again, this is an attempt to prevent the AG from acting to protect our health and water. OPPOSE HB2169 attorney general; nuisance action; defamation (Diaz) says the Attorney General is liable for defamation if the AG brings an action relating to public nuisance that is found to have no "reasonable" basis. Again, this is part of an effort to shut down actions by the AG to protect public resources. OPPOSE Tuesday, February 3rd   Senate Natural Resource Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1202 supply and demand; assessment; groundwater (Shope) requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources to include more specific data in the supply and demand assessments, but much of the data requested is not available currently and this bill does not provide funding to gather the additional data. OPPOSE SB1280 public monies; Mexican wolf; prohibition (Farnsworth) prohibits the Arizona Game and Fish Commission from transporting Mexican gray wolf puppies into Arizona or from spending any money for transporting them. This could affect much needed introduction of wolf families with important genetic diversity. OPPOSE  House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 2:00 PM  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2145 petition; waiver; fuel formulations (Griffin) allows the Senate President or Speaker of the House to petition to allow for alternative fuel formulations. This bypasses the environmental experts who should be making these decisions. OPPOSE HB2331 electric service providers; energy reliability (Marshall: Heap) has a strike-everything amendment that requires that 85% of generation for retail customers come from "reliable" sources. The wording of this bill effectively says 85% of generation capacity would have to be from fossil fuels. This also appears to infringe on the constitutional authority of the Arizona Corporation Commission as it affects rate making. OPPOSE HB2389 replacement units; certificates; environmental compatibility (Martinez) allows a utility to build a power plant to replace an existing plant on the same site without getting a new certificate of environmental compatibility. This bypasses environmental review of new power plants which could potentially be more polluting than the plants they replace since the process only looks at the rated power generation of the replacement and not the type of generator. OPPOSE HB2400 motor fuel tax holiday (Willoughby: Biasiucci) provides for a fuel tax holiday in certain nonattainment areas over the summer. This makes no sense as it is what helps maintain the roads. Besides, our gas tax is pretty low and has not gone up in decades. OPPOSE HB2494 certificate; environmental compatibility; zoning; exemption (Taylor: Carbone, Griffin) says a county can't prevent, restrict, or regulate the use or occupation of land for construction of both thermal and nonthermal electric generating units if the owner has received a certificate of environmental compatibility. This process appears to bypass state and county environmental quality reviews.  OPPOSE HB2696 commerce authority; gas; prices; prioritization (Willoughby) requires the Commerce Authority to use all available resources to reduce gas prices in Arizona. How about incentivizing sustainable transportation options? OPPOSE HB2795 small modular reactors; zoning; approval (Carbone) preempts county government from preventing, restricting, or in any way regulating the siting of small modular nuclear reactors if the reactors have gotten federal approvals. This is unwise and flies in the face of efforts to ensure that local communities are not disproportionately and negatively impacted by siting of these plants. OPPOSE Wednesday, February 4th Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Committee at 9:00 A.M. Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1241 municipalities; counties; private permitting providers (Bolick) It allows a property owner to use a private permitting provider thus bypassing city or county review. OPPOSE Thursday, February 5th   House Artificial Intelligence Committee at 9:00 AM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2452 comprehensive plans; data centers; nuclear (Wilmeth) among other things, this bill requires counties to include land designations for data centers and small modular nuclear reactors in their comprehensive plans. OPPOSE