2026 Environmental Report Card for AZ Legislature & Governor

During the 2026 session of the AZ Legislature many harmful energy, water, and wildlife bills died. Thanks to those of you who pushed back through the Request to Speak system or by contacting your legislators. That's good news but there was still no action to protect water or act on climate. 

Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, joined by Chispa Arizona and Arizona Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Advocates, Arizona Mountain Mamas, and Mi Familia Vota released the 2026 Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor.

“We were pleased to see the Legislature put a moratorium on tax breaks for new data centers, but more is needed to hold them accountable relative to water and energy use, as well as transparency,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “While we saw some action on PFAS to protect firefighters and to restrict homeowners associations from blocking backyard shade, the rest of the session was characterized by lack of action to protect our air, water, public health, or communities, plus way too many bills to impede solar and wind and to advance fossil fuels and nuclear, plus a bunch of legislation to weaken groundwater protections. The good news is all of this legislation died in one house or the other or via a veto.“

In the 2026 Legislative Session, the House sent a plethora of bad legislation to the Senate, including HB2267 public nuisance; renewable energy; exceptions (Marshall), which would have established that any utility-scale solar or wind project that is built within four miles of a residence is automatically considered a public nuisance, and HB2331 NOW: electric utility; reliable energy standard (Marshall: Heap) which effectively said that 85 percent of the generating capacity to serve retail load cannot be solar or wind, thus limiting some of the cheapest energy sources. Both of these bills died as they did not receive a hearing in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. 

Among the harmful water bills that the House sent to the Senate was  HB2758 McMullen Valley; eligible entities; groundwater (Griffin: Blackman). It was some of the worst water legislation and was never brought to the Senate floor as the votes were not there to pass it. The bill would have allowed private water companies and a New York hedge fund, Water Asset Management, to engage in the interbasin transfer of groundwater from the McMullen Valley in La Paz County, which would have harmed the people who live there.

While it is difficult to find a way to grade legislators on the many important issues and bills that were left unaddressed, some of the same people who scored high on the report card are the ones who were advocating for protecting our air and water and advancing clean energy and environmental justice. HB2141 environmental permitting; requirements; burdened communities (De Los Santos: P. Contreras) would have defined “overburdened communities” and required major polluters seeking air quality, waste, and water quality permits in overburdened communities to develop “Environmental Justice Impact Statements,” plus empowered the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to deny or condition permits due to disproportionate impacts based on the statements. This bill never got a hearing, nor did HB2928 working conditions; heat illness; prevention (Sandoval: Abeytia, Aguilar, et al.)  to mandate the industrial commission to establish rules that cover indoor and outdoor workplaces in industries such as agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and delivery services.  Please check out the environmental report card and keep those grades in mind when election time comes around in November. Also, share your insights with friends and encourage them to vote for legislators who represent their values. Currently, none of the good bills sponsored by Dems are even getting a hearing. Finally, look out for the upcoming Request to Speak actions as the new session starts in January. If you haven't already, sign up to get a Request to Speak account so you are ready for the actions to come. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform

Weigh in on Wolves, Wildlife, Water, Overreach and Sprawl!

This week there are several bad bills that you can weigh in on that hurt wildlife, increase sprawl (at the expense of water) or over-burden our state departments. You can find them under the Legislative update and a petition to protect wildlife.
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Please use the Request to Speak app to weigh in on the bills before they are heard in their respective committees on Tuesday. 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

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

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

Need more direction? The Sierra Club is offering Request to Speak training at 6pm on Thursday, March 12th. (See information below.)


LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

This week, the House and Senate continued a fair amount of work on the floor, sending bills across the mall to the opposite house. Some bills did die in the process, however. One of the best moments was when HB2492 (urban growth boundaries; prohibition) went down in flames, failing in the House 27-29-3-0-1. The bill said 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 was to accommodate even more runaway sprawl -- as if we did not have enough. It would have ensured that those who can afford it least pay the cost for developers to sprawl farther and farther away from existing infrastructure. The bill could have been used to block conservation plans, too. Thank representatives who voted no. You can see the list here. (Click the Show House THIRD button to see the names and how they voted.)

Sadly, while legislative leadership blocked all efforts to require more of data centers and to eliminate their tax breaks, they allowed numerous bills to advance to accommodate siting of both data centers and small modular nuclear reactors. We will have an alert on those next week, but one bill has passed in the Senate and is on a House agenda next week. See more on SB1418 in the section on committees.

HB2331 electric service providers; energy reliability (Marshall: Heap) passed out of the House 32-23-4-0-1. It requires that 85% of generation for utility retail customers be from "reliable" sources. The bill creates its own definition of reliable and defines it as a generation resource that is not solar or wind. We will update the alert and share it as the bill gets scheduled.

On a positive note, HB2641 PFAS; firefighting foam; prohibition (Ligouri: Biasucci, Fink, et al) passed out of the House with no opposition, 50-0-9-01. HB2641 bans the use of firefighting foam with PFAS in it. PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" that cause serious health issues. Limiting them in firefighting foam is an important public health issue for firefighters and will help limit contamination of lands and waters. Hooray for a positive step!

Over the last two weeks, several bills to remove protections from Mexican gray wolves and other wildlife have advanced. Most of those are in the Senate and a few will be heard in committee next week.

Please tell your senator to vote no on these harmful wildlife measures!

Tuesday, March 10th

Senate Natural Resources Committee at 1:30 PM
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.

HB2013 exceptional events; air quality; wildfires (Fink) mandates that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) file an exceptional event demonstration if a wildfire occurs on federally managed land. There is already a process for exceptional events, demonstrations and established criteria. Why add this time consuming burden and expense? OPPOSE
HB2101 supply and demand; assessment; groundwater (Griffin) requires the ADWR to include more specific data in the supply and demand assessments. Asks for a lot of data that isn't a part of many current groundwater models and there is no funding for updating models. OPPOSE
HB2113 public service corporation; rates; intervenor (Martinez: Carter N, Hendrix, et al.) forces the Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO) to intervene when there's an increase of 100% or more with a public service corporation. While a rate increase of 100% or more is extreme, it doesn't seem like RUCO should have the authority to intervene. OPPOSE
HB2158 predatory animals; definition (Diaz) expands the definition of “predators” to include bears, cougars, and mountain lions. The bill is problematic on its face - bears are mostly omnivorous and cougars and mountain lions are the same animal (Puma concolor). HB 2158 would remove these apex carnivores from science-based wildlife management and open the door to unregulated, extreme killing, including by cruel methods such as traps, snares, hounding, and aerial gunning—practices that destabilize populations and undermine the public trust. A floor amendment in the House removed wolves from the definition, but this bill is still harmful to other wildlife and would change the management mechanisms around these animals, providing fewer limits on their take. OPPOSE
HCM2011 Mexican wolf; delist; urging support (Diaz: Biasiucci, Blackman, et al.) is a message to Congress asking it to pass H.R. 4255 (Rep Paul Gosar's terrible bill) and delist the Mexican wolf from the endangered species list and to defund the Nonessential Experimental Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project. Decisions on delisting endangered species should be based on science, not political favors for ranchers. OPPOSE
HCR2020 for-sale housing; development; groundwater replenishment (Griffin: Taylor) says the legislature supports building housing outside designated service providers of water if the proposed development is enrolled in the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD). The CAGRD was established by and for developers and is truly a house of cards as it only worked when there was "excess" Colorado River water and, as we know, there is a shortage on the Colorado. OPPOSE

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

SB1418 corporation commission; small modular reactors (Carroll) preempts counties – except Maricopa and Pima – from regulating the location of these small modular nuclear reactors if they are co-located with a large industrial electricity user – basically data centers. We already have data centers locating here in our communities indiscriminately and using enormous amounts of water and electricity, plus providing very few sustainable jobs. It also says nuclear power units are not subject to requirements for a certificate of environmental compatibility, if they are being sited where there was another thermal unit. It doesn't make sense to replace an existing coal plant with a nuclear plant without a certificate of environmental compatibility. OPPOSE

Thursday, March 12th

Make Your Voice Heard at the AZ Legislature using Request to Speak. Training at 6:00 PM

RSVP Here.

Preparing to Advocate for Better Bills at the AZ Legislature

Time to prepare for our vital work advocating at the State Capitol. 

After the Arizona Legislature resumes on January 12th, we will have regular Calls to Action on bills that impact our water and the environment. Unfortunately, they are usually bad bills. You can weigh in on them through the Request to Speak online system while they are still in committee. If these bad bills make it through anyway, our RTS responses support the Governor's vetoes on those bills. 

If you haven't already, please sign up for the Request to Speak system so you are prepared for these important actions. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform

Another way to advocate for the environment is to attend Environmental Day at the Capitol on  Wednesday, February 11, 2026; 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM. This is your opportunity to express your concerns with your Reps or be there to support other advocates. (For instance, I always advocate for water.) 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.  

And be sure to register now - especially if you want a ride on the bus (as the bus fills up.) 

 https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po000019vMfuIAE

One way to become better advocates is by staying abreast of what is happening at the state legislature. Towards that end, Sustainable Tucson hosted The Environment in 2026: At the State Capitol & Beyond. Watch recording of meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3eH7XnK6D4 The program included info at what can be expected in coming months from state (and some national) legislative and administrative actions, with a focus on what will have particular impact on Tucson and Southern AZ – and what we can do. As the head of the Environmental Advocacy team, I had the honor of introducing our panelists.

The panel included State Senator Priya Sundareshan (LD 18), Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter, and Kirsten Engel, Chief, Environmental Protection Unit of the AZ Attorney General's Office. They previewed the policies, places, and programs that Arizonans will need to protect and promote. Their perspectives give us a full picture of what we can and should do – as individuals and as an organization – to support an agenda of environmental protection and justice as we work for a sustainable future.

Please look out for more opportunities to learn about the bills that are coming up and how to advocate for our water and the environment by participating in Sustainable Tucson's Request to Speak actions.

Learn About the Arizona Legislature to Better Advocate with It

Sandy Bahr speaking at a committee meeting at AZ legislature

In addition to advocating for water conservation, climate action and environmental policies on the local  level, a big part of our work is weighing in on bills at the state legislature using the online Request to Speak system when the session starts up again January 12th. 

It only improves our advocacy to learn more about how the legislature works. In fact, I was inspired to start this group after attending the Sierra Club's Volunteer Lobby Workshop and Environmental Day at the Capitol. I would greatly encourage you to attend their upcoming Volunteer Lobby Workshop.. 

Volunteer Lobby Workshop! Learn About the Legislature

Date and Time:
Tue, Oct 7, 2025; 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM  (Arizona)

Organized By: Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter

Join the Sierra Club for this workshop to learn more about Arizona government, focusing on the Arizona Legislature, and how to lobby/advocate for change at the Capitol. They will cover the basics, including how a bill goes through the process, plus hear from people who have testified in committee and possibly from one of our legislators. They have allowed extra time for questions and answers.

Register to get the Zoom link:

https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po000019073pIAA

Additional Directions: Send any questions you would like them to address ahead of time, but you will have time to ask during the workshop, too. sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org

2025 Environmental Report Card for AZ Legislature & Governor

Check out the 2025 Environmental Report Card! See How Your Legislators Did This Session The Sierra Club, joined by Chispa Arizona and Arizona Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Advocates, released the 2025 Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor. “Not only did we not see any real progress on water issues, but we saw harmful utility bills signed into law, allowing old coal plants to continue operating after the utilities have bonded for their debt, continuing to pollute our air and water and fuel climate change,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “The Legislature and Governor also gave utilities liability relief for fires sparked by their infrastructure. The attacks on voting, especially early voting, continued, but those bills were vetoed and the referrals did not get to the ballot – at least not this time.” See the full news release here and the report card in English here. La Tarjeta de Evaluación del Medio Ambiente de 2025 está disponible en español Some of the bad bills at the AZ legislature.

Last Legislative Update of this Session? And some final actions...

There are a few actions at the end of this post (for those of you who haven't already acted on them), but generally this is an update on the Arizona Legislature from Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club wrapping things up as the session comes to a close. (Dan and I added a few sentences elaborating on and clarifying SB 1611*.) 

Please, look out for a Call to Action on Project Blue, the proposed data center on the south side that would use a lot of water and energy. 

Sandy writes, "I am sorry I did not get you all an update last week. I was out of office enjoying a No Kings Day protest with my sister, plus there was not much to report until very late Friday night. I will catch you up now, however." So last week, the Arizona House passed a budget that had no support from the Governor or most Senate Republicans, so it was basically a nonstarter. This week, and late into the night on Thursday night, the Arizona Senate passed a bipartisan budget that has the Governor's support. The House was then supposed to begin action on that budget, but instead, they adjourned and left until Monday. The Senate then adjourned sine die, meaning they are not planning to come back at all this session. Read more about that here. So where does that leave us? It is unclear. The House could come back Monday and just pass the Senate budget and then adjourn. It seems unlikely, however. They could try to convince the Senate to reconsider its adjournment action and come back and work on further amending the budget. The House could stall and not pass a budget before the end of the fiscal year, which would then result in a partial shutdown of the state government. Sigh. What a mess. As far as the budget goes, the version upon which the Senate and Governor agreed is not bad, overall, on environmental protection. It still does not include adequate funding for important programs, but there are no major poison pills and there is $9 million for the Water Quality Fee Fund for helping to address impaired waters and also to implement new water quality standards in permits. There is also $1 million for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund -- it should get $10 million, but last year got nothing. The Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund, our state Superfund program, got $15 million, and there is $2 million for clean up of the Iron King Mine smelter near Humboldt. This budget passed with bipartisan support but the self-proclaimed "Freedom Caucus" Republicans are super ticked off, which is why we find ourselves with no state budget and the clock ticking. One positive thing the Senate did yesterday was to vote down HCR2013 early ballots; deadlines; foreign money, which would have referred a measure to the ballot that imposed stricter early voting deadlines and required Maricopa and Pima voters to confirm their addresses every election cycle. It was defeated 11-18-1. There are still a number of other bad voting measures that they could refer however, if the Senate comes back. SB1611 physical availability exemption credit; groundwater (Shope: Petersen), also known as the ag to urban bill because it promotes development on agricultural lands, was significantly improved and could result in some groundwater savings. For example, the revised bill sets limits on how much water a development can withdraw based on a groundwater threshold and it limits the use of water-thirsty landscaping and decorative features like lakes and waterfalls. We remain concerned about the bill promoting more urban sprawl rather than encouraging more sustainable development and that it significantly increases the replenishment obligation of the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD). The CAGRD was designed to utilize excess Central Arizona Project (CAP) water, but there is no excess CAP water any longer, so what will be used for replenishment? It also reduces the replenishment reserve requirement for the CAGRD. Additionally, there appear to be some potential loopholes in the 36 page long bill. It will likely be heard in the House next week.* On the bad news front, the House put a referendum on the ballot for 2026 for a proposed constitutional amendment. SCR1004 was substituted for HCR2035 tax prohibition; vehicle mileage; monitoring and passed with only Republican votes. If passed by voters, it would prohibit the state and local government from taking important actions to reduce vehicle miles traveled. Travel reduction is a component of our state implementation plans to improve air quality and removing those provisions would mean seeking approval and replacing those reductions with some other measure, thus shifting more of the burden for reducing pollution to other entities. It also prohibits any kind of fee based on vehicle miles traveled. Fees such as these have been proposed as an alternative to gas taxes to pay for roads. Finally, a constitutional amendment would also take away flexibility from the legislature itself for future measures to fund roads. Watch for this on your ballot in 2026. There are still a few other bills outstanding that we are concerned about, including a harmful wind energy bill, water bills, and several referrals. Reach out to your representatives about these bills, if you haven't already.  Find out who your Representative is, first find your district by using this app:  https://irc-az.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=424810a4667049388ef6df4f0c73098b Use that district to find your Rep and their contact info. here:  https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/ SB1150 NOW: wind farms; construction; policies; procedures  (Gowan) includes numerous new mandates for wind energy generation facilities that will erect significant roadblocks to siting wind projects. The mandates include requiring financial surety and prohibitions on the construction of wind projects within six miles of a property zoned residential, yet you can plop down a large gas plant – something that emits harmful pollutants – right next to a residential neighborhood. Thoughtful siting criteria are fine, but this bill is not about that. It is about stopping wind farms. It still awaits a final passage vote in the Senate. SB1520 Now: Rural Water (Dunn) establishes an extremely weak system for groundwater "management" in a limited number of areas in rural Arizona. It is not what is needed to stabilize aquifers to limit land subsidence, earth fissures, and the continued decline of water levels, which are drying up wells in some areas. Discussions have broken down on this bill, so the outlook is grim for rural water,  but legislators still may send it up for a veto.  There are quite a few referrals that could still move forward, but we have heard they plan to wait until next session for most of them. Here are two of them that could advance. HCR2025 constitutional amendments; sixty percent vote (Kolodin: Kupper, Marshall) refers a proposed constitutional amendment to the ballot that would require sixty percent approval for any future constitutional amendment, thus raising the bar significantly for future amendments. Why should only 40% of voters be allowed to tell 60% of the state what they can and can’t do? This bill passed out of the House and could be brought to the Senate Floor at any time. HCR2057 initiatives; referendums; signature requirement; counties (Keshel) refers a proposed constitutional amendment to the ballot that requires a proportionate number of signatures from each county for a statewide initiatives, constitutional amendments, and referenda. It passed in the House as well and could come to the floor of the Senate at any time as well.

ACT NOW: Fight ESA Vouchers Wrapped into Prop 123 Renewal

AZ Republican lawmakers are attempting to hold Prop 123 hostage by forcing in a voucher poison pill. In strikers to HB2185 and SB1240, they enshrine vouchers into our state constitution with NO guardrails, accountability or transparency — while jeopardizing desperately needed dollars for AZ classrooms and teacher pay. It’s time to hold these lawmakers accountable.

Prop 123, passed by voters in 2016, is the initiative designed to pump additional funds into public schools, and it will expire within a few months. Lawmakers are attempting to insert a virtually unregulated universal voucher program into the Arizona Constitution.

In addition to taking money from public schools, vouchers for private schools were a primary force in creating a $1.4 billion budget shortfall in Arizona in 2024. To fix that deficit, Arizona's lawmakers made cuts to state programs and projects—like water infrastructure programs, highway expansions and repairs, and improvements to air conditioning in state prisons.

Arizona's voucher program, specifically the Education Savings Account (ESA) program, has faced several criticisms, including significant budget overruns, concerns about accountability and transparency, and the potential for inequitable distribution of funds. Additionally, there are concerns about the program's impact on public schools and the possibility of students losing protections afforded by public education. (See the bottom of this page for a more detailed look at the problems.) 

Join Save Our Schools Arizona for Zoom Power Hours over the next few days to call lawmakers. Your help is essential! Sign up HERE for either day.    Weds May 7, 4-5 pm Thurs May 8, 5-6 pm   If you can't join, you can take these actions on your own: Call Your Lawmakers: Go here to find yourlawmakers: azleg.gov/findmylegislator  Example Script: Hi, my name is  _____________, I live in legislative district ______. I’d like Representative/Senator ___________ to know that I support a clean Prop 123 renewal that does NOT include ESA vouchers. Enshrining the ESA voucher program into the state Constitution is incredibly reckless and would severely limit the Arizona legislature’s ability to put even basic guardrails on the program. Lawmakers should not be holding Prop 123 funding hostage from Arizona kids to protect private school vouchers. I urge Senator/Representative ___________ to listen to their constituents and vote NO on any Prop 123 renewal that attempts to enshrine vouchers in our state constitution. Thank you! Call the Sponsors of the Voucher Proposal: As the lawmakers moving this proposal forward, please also take some time to call: Rep. Matt Gress (R-4) - (602) 926-4105 Senator JD Mesnard (R-13) - (602) 926-4481     We need to flood the phones! Remember if you call during office hours, you'll probably get a friendly administrative assistant who will just tally your position. If you call after hours, please leave a message!   Thank you for this much-needed activism!   Here's a more detailed look at the problems with vouchers: 1. Financial Overruns and Budget Impact: Arizona's ESA program has seen its costs soar beyond initial projections. The original estimated cost of $65 million for FY 2024 ballooned to over $300 million, according to First Focus on Children.  The program has contributed to a state budget deficit of over $1.4 billion, reports ProPublica.  This financial burden has led to budget cuts in other vital public services, potentially disproportionately impacting low-income communities and communities of color. 2. Lack of Accountability and Transparency: Arizona's ESA vouchers have been criticized for lacking transparency and accountability measures. There are no requirements for private schools to meet state educational standards, conduct background checks on staff, or ensure safe learning environments, according to Governing. This lack of oversight raises concerns about the potential for misuse of taxpayer funds and the quality of education provided to students.  3. Unequal Access and Impact on Low-Income Students: While the ESA program is intended to be a choice for all students, low-income families are less likely to use the vouchers, reports ProPublica.  This is due to factors like the location of private schools, additional costs like transportation and uniforms, and the fact that vouchers may not cover the full cost of private school tuition, according to ProPublica.  The program has been criticized for benefiting wealthier families who were already able to afford private school tuition and for potentially siphoning funds from public schools serving low-income and rural communities.  4. Loss of Protections and Discrimination Concerns: Parents using ESA vouchers are required to sign away certain federal protections, including those for students with disabilities, notes Governing. This has raised concerns about the potential for state-funded discrimination against LGBTQ students, English language learners, and students with disabilities.  5. Impact on Public Schools: Critics argue that the ESA program diverts public funds away from public schools, potentially leading to cuts in funding and services.  This can negatively impact public schools, especially in rural communities that rely heavily on state funding.

Push back on bad bills for our environment, water & voting rights

Here we go. The Arizona legislature is off and running proposing a lot of really bad bills that make it more difficult to protect the environment, conserve water, or even vote. Please, weigh in on these bills on the Request to Speak app.   https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon You can weigh in on these bills anytime while they are still in committee. Since there are so many bills you might want to do the ones earlier in the week first and then do the ones that are being heard later in the week. For example, go ahead and weigh in on SB1068 before it is heard on Monday at 2pm and the bills being heard Tuesday. Or prioritize the ones that are most important to you. (For me that would be water bills. See my NOTE below.)   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 NOTE: From her comments at previous committee meetings, it is clear that Griffin is trying to tie the hands of the ADWR who are just trying to do their job (for example monitoring how much groundwater there is in certain areas.) Developers need to demonstrate a 100 year water supply. Being a realtor, Griffin is always trying to lower that standard.  As you may be aware, Arizona's water laws are really lax. Rural areas are suffering from over-pumping for new development and industrial farms - leaving no water for small family farms and even causing sinkholes in the Wilcox area. New Active Management Areas (AMAs) were enacted to protect Wilcox and Douglas. Griffin has several bills that weaken or even end the AMAs. The Sierra Club also discourages augmentation (bringing water from other locations) because of the environmental impact and the creation of sacrifice zones (hurting the people who live on that land.) I personally agree with them and prefer conservation efforts.  If you would like to learn more about AMAs you can watch this Sierra Club presentation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cviFTa-nSE Coming up this Week at the Arizona Legislature... Monday, January 27th Senate Federalism Committee at 2:00 PM  Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. Presentation • State and Federal Lands, Danny Martinez SB1068 federal government; land acquisition; consent (Finchem: Angius) requires that the governor and legislature approve any sale or transfer of private land to the federal government. This is ridiculous and has been introduced many times and vetoed many times by both Republican and Democratic governors. OPPOSE Tuesday, January 28th Senate Natural Resources Committee at 2:00 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. Presentation • Overview of Central Arizona Project, Brenda Burman, General Manager, Central Arizona Project SB1115 demand calculator; rules; conservation code (Dunn) requires the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to adopt rules to update ADWR's project demand calculator every five years. This is the spreadsheet used by developers when they apply for a certificate of assured water supply.  The language is very vague. But it appears to be a bill to force ADWR to adopt the Homebuilders' calculations. OPPOSE SB1116 groundwater model; receipt; written findings (Dunn) requires the Director of ADWR to provide notification of receipt within five days and a written response within 60 days to applicants who submit alternative groundwater models. Again, this is a bill for the developers who cannot seem to believe there is not enough water for them to keep sprawling on. OPPOSE SB1119 residential utilities; consumer office; definition (Dunn) defines "represents the interests of" as advocating for the safest and most reliable utility service achievable at the lowest retail electric rate possible. This is a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry. OPPOSE SB1128 air quality; causation; state boundaries (Carroll: Dunn, Kavanagh, et al) While we don't disagree that the attorney general should be allowed to sue any entity outside Arizona when their emissions result in damages to Arizona's air quality, we do disagree with the bill requiring that the Director of ADEQ consider the best interests of taxpayers, transmission of emissions from outside of Arizona, and effects of solar radiation and any associated heat increases when revising a state implementation. This is contrary to the Clean Air Act, which requires the focus to be on public health, not all of these outside factors. OPPOSE SB1134 ADWR; application; review; time frames (Shope) establishes licensing time frames for ADWR to make determinations for applications for new or modified certificates, designations or analyses of assured water supply. These licensing time frames will rush the necessary analysis for these certificates and designations. OPPOSE House Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee at 2:00 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2084 domestic water improvement districts; hauling (Griffin: Diaz, Hendrix, et al) allows for formation of a domestic water improvement district for purposes of hauling water. Sadly, they focus on providing for water hauling rather than protecting groundwater so they don't have to haul it. OPPOSE HB2086 water improvements program; water hauling (Griffin: Diaz, Hendrix, et al) allows for water improvement grants to be used for water hauling and storage. OPPOSE HB2088 subsequent AMA; director; removal (Griffin: Diaz, Hendrix, et al) authorizes the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources to remove designation of a subsequent active management area. Currently, that would just apply to Douglas and Willcox. There is no need for this and once these areas are established the groundwater protections should stay in place. OPPOSE HB2089 subsequent AMA; voters; removal (Griffin: Diaz, Hendrix, et al) allows for removal of a subsequent active management area by the voters ten years after it is established. OPPOSE HB2202 subsequent AMA; previously nonirrigated land (Griffin) allows for previously unirrigated lands to be irrigated, thus increasing groundwater pumping in these active management areas. OPPOSE HB2203 historical water use;  subsequent AMA (Griffin) allows acreage to be irrigated in a subsequent active management area that was irrigated at any time in the last ten years rather than the last five years. It is retroactive so it would apply to the Douglas AMA and would be extremely difficult to prove, plus would likely result in more groundwater pumping.  It is widening the window to pump more groundwater and making it retroactive. (It's more like 13 years.) OPPOSE HB2549 appropriation; subsequent AMA; assistance grants (Diaz: Griffin) appropriates an undetermined amount of money to those in subsequent active management areas for attorneys and such, thus picking the taxpayers' pockets to fund lawsuits to challenge groundwater protections. OPPOSE HB2551 grandfathered right; Willcox AMA; extension (Diaz: Carter P, Griffin) extends the amount of time someone has to file an application for a certificate of grandfathered right with the Department of Water Resources. This was already proposed in the last session, so they've already had sufficient time. OPPOSE HB2570 temporary non-expansion area (Griffin) allows for establishment of temporary non-expansion areas that would limit new irrigated agriculture, but that would expire after ten years. There is also a high bar for even establishing them. We don't need temporary measures that create the illusion that we are really doing something to address the serious groundwater issues we have. OPPOSE  House Regulatory Oversight Committee at 2:00 PM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2056 geoengineering; prohibition (Fink) is a bit over the top relative to how it approaches concerns about geoengineering and seems to go down the conspiracy theory road. We wish they would focus on the climate manipulation that is actually happening -- all the carbon, methane, and other greenhouse gases that are being put into the atmosphere. OPPOSE Wednesday, January 29th   House Government Committee at 9:00 AM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2099 governor; attorney general; duties; immigration (Martinez: Biasiucci, Carbone, et al.) requires the governor and attorney general to cooperate with the federal government on immigration issues, read deportations. OPPOSE HB2319 private property; design; regulations; prohibition (Gillette: Carbone, Hendrix, et al) significantly limits cities' ability to adopt regulations that affect individually owned single family lots. The language is overly broad and could undermine protections for the larger community putting property rights above all else. OPPOSE Senate Government Committee at 9:00 AM SB1092 vehicle mileage; tracking; tax; prohibitions (Hoffman: Chaplik, Hendrix, et al) prohibits limits on vehicle miles traveled or any travel reduction program, contrary to air quality requirements. OPPOSE SB1093 government investments; products; fiduciaries; plans (Hoffman: Hendrix, Keshel) prohibits the state treasurer from considering any social factors in state investments. OPPOSE SB1094 business; discrimination prohibition; social criteria (Hoffman: Keshel) prohibits banks, insurance companies, and credit reporting agencies from considering any social or environmental factors. OPPOSE SCR1004 prohibit tax; monitoring; vehicle mileage (Hoffman: Chaplik, Keshel) refers the provisions of SB1092 to the ballot. OPPOSE House Federalism, Military Affairs, & Elections Committee at 2:00 PM HB2004 voter registration cards; mailing limitation (Gillette) limits county recorders from mailing voter registration cards to people out of state. OPPOSE HB2673 early ballots; deadlines; foreign money (Kolodin: Montenegro) makes it easier to remove people from the active early voting list. OPPOSE HCR2013 early ballots; deadlines; foreign money (Kolodin: Biasiucci, Blackman, et al) refers the provisions of HB2673 to the ballot. OPPOSE House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at 2:00 PM HB2234 Interstate 11; environmental; engineering; study (Martinez: Carter P, Gress) directs the Arizona Department of Transportation to conduct the Tier 2 engineering study for I-11. This freeway would cause great harm by fragmenting habitat and opening up more areas for development. OPPOSE Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee at 2:00 PM SB1052 voter registration; temporary absence (Rogers: Gillette) takes away US citizens' eligibility to vote if they have never resided in the US. It makes no sense that they keep further restricting who can vote. OPPOSE Senate Public Safety Committee at 2:00 PM SB1086 transportation system performance; ADOT (Hoffman: Keshel) de-emphasizes congestion management and promotes mobility as a performance standard and includes specific provisions for how these and other factors are considered. It prohibits ADOT from considering or adopting a motor vehicle travel mile reduction target or any other demand management policy or project to reduce traffic. This is short-sighted and harmful and should be rejected. OPPOSE