Keep these bad bills from landing on the Governor's Desk

This week at the State Legislature, some bad bills were passed from one chamber to the other. You might recognize four from our Request to Speak actions. This is your last chance to stop them before they reach the Governor's desk. The Sierra Club supplied forms to make it easy to push back on SB1280, SB1418 and  HB2758.

But we are trying something new for HB2975  and  SB1332. You will need to call your legislators or draft a short email using the information provided below. The good news is that it should be even more impactful! 

Both the House and Senate advanced bills on the floor this past week, including one that has reached the Governor, HB2787. 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 and would ensure that the state wildlife agency would have little say in the wolf recovery program. The Sierra Club sent a letter asking the Governor to veto it and she did!  Stop the "Cruella de Vil" Act Still alive and in the mix is SB1280 Public monies; Mexican wolf; Prohibition (Farnsworth). Also dubbed the Cruella de Vil Act , SB1280 would prohibit the Arizona Game and Fish Commission from transporting Mexican gray wolf puppies into Arizona and also from spending any money for transporting wolf puppies into the state. This is a direct attack on the current federal efforts to improve the genetic diversity of Mexican gray wolves in the wild and undermines the science-based administration of the Endangered Species Act. Use this form to tell your reps to vote no on SB1280.  Tell your representatives to vote no on SB1280 Stop the unregulated nukes! Also advancing and likely to land on the Governor's desk soon is SB1418 corporation commission; small modular reactors  (Carroll). It 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 such as a data center. We have data centers locating here in our communities indiscriminately and using enormous amounts of water and electricity, plus providing very few sustainable jobs. SB1418 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 power plant. Take action to demand accountability on small reactors and data centers below. Tell your representatives to vote no on SB1418

Some in the Arizona Legislature are still trying to help hedge funds swipe rural water! HB2758 McMullen Valley; eligible entities; groundwater (Griffin: Blackman) is among the worst water legislation moving through the process. The bill allows 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 to elsewhere in La Paz County or to an active management area -- basically the Phoenix area. HB2758 creates sacrifice zones for groundwater pumping to the detriment of rural Arizonans in order to feed the growth machine in urban areas and to benefit the bottom line of this hedge fund. Learn more about the small communities fighting this bill here.   Please ask your Senator to Vote NO on HB2758!

While helping hedge funds steal water, legislators are also seeking to hinder clean solar energy development! HB2975 state lands; solar score; maps (Heap: Marshall) prohibits the State Land Department from creating solar score maps while requiring the department to create maps of mining resources and housing development potential. The bill further requires the Land Department to only use the maps it has created when planning for future use of State Lands. This prevents the department from considering solar developments in their land use plans. Contact your Senator and ask them to vote NO on HB2975. To find out who your legislators are, first find your district here:  https://irc-az.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=424810a4667049388ef6df4f0c73098b Use the district to find out who your Senator is and find their contact info here.

Leaving no stone unturned when it comes to bad policy, legislators, especially Senator John Kavanagh, are attacking light rail as well.

SB1332 Now: light rail expansion; feasibility review (Kavanagh) requires a biased study of light rail and attempts to pit it against other forms of transportation. Requiring an analysis that compares light rail and autonomous vehicles is an apples to oranges comparison and provides no real beneficial information or benefits to our communities.  It's not like there are no studies on light rail either. Every project goes through a thorough environmental and economic impact review before it's approved. Just visit the Valley Metro page and you will find several. This is just a waste of time and money.  Contact your representatives and ask them to vote NO on SB1332. You can find their info here. Sierra Club's 2026 bill tracker here:  https://www.quorum.us/spreadsheet/external/jsklJgFKUzncqsWUMgnx/

Defend endangered wild cats from a mining land grab in our beloved Santa Rita Mountains

The Arizona State Land Department is scheduled to auction off 160 acres of state trust land next month — land that Hudbay Minerals, a Canadian mining company, has sought to purchase to help the expansion of its proposed Copper World mine in southern Arizona.

The lands to be auctioned are at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains, a beloved landscape within the biologically rich Sky Island region — and habitat for endangered wild cats.

For years the famous jaguar El Jefe has roamed the Santa Ritas — which lie within jaguars’ native range — and just recently, a trail camera detected a rare ocelot in the range. These mountains are also home to wildlife like black bears and mountain lions.

If the 160-acre parcel is auctioned off to Hudbay Minerals, it will connect two company properties south of Corona de Tucson, clearing the way for Hudbay to expand its toxic tailings disposal and mining infrastructure into the Santa Ritas.

Large-scale mining in the mountains would fragment habitat and wildlife-movement corridors, increase noise and light pollution, and suck up massive amounts of groundwater that riparian ecosystems like Davidson Canyon and Cienega Creek need to thrive.

Gov. Katie Hobbs has the authority to withdraw these 160 acres from auction. Tell her to protect wildlife, water, and the Santa Rita Mountains by stopping the land sale now.

- Thanks to the Center of Biological Diversity for sharing this action and photo.  

Love our mountains? Enjoy this recording about the Rincons by Sky Island Alliance:

A Floristic Tour of the Rincon Mountains

Supporting Heroic Actions by Arizona's Top Leaders

While the media amplifies their differences, I would like to highlight some heroic contributions of our Governor and Attorney General. Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed several bad bills (see below.) As of late February 2026, she has blocked measures related to Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and unemployment benefits. Last week, AG Kris Mayes went after property managers involved in a rent fixing conspiracy. In the past year she has also filed or joined at least 30 lawsuits focusing on halting the withholding of federal funds, protecting environmental regulations, and challenging new immigration rules. AG Mayes is challenging TEP's 14% rate case at ACC.

Thanks to these strong women for standing up for Arizonans and to Progress Arizona for sharing the following update.   

Since she was elected, Governor Hobbs has been the last bastion in defeating Republican-led legislation that harms working-class Arizonans. Most recently, she vetoed 8 incredibly harmful bills this legislative session:

SB1051 would have forced hospitals to work with ICE and HSI to turn over patients seeking emergency care based on their citizenship status.

SB1002, SB1331, SB1334, HB2206, and HB2396 would have significantly increased restrictions on SNAP eligibility and [the types of] food recipients could buy.

SB1036 would have made unemployment harder for workers to receive, putting unnecessary strain on those in need of support; this bill has been vetoed by Gov. Hobbs in previous years as well.

HB2796 would have duplicated the extremely rigid Medicaid eligibility requirements recently set by the Trump administration; versions of this bill have also been vetoed by Gov. Hobbs in previous years.

With more harmful legislation to rapidly reach Governor Hobbs’ desk as it continues to advance in the Republican-controlled legislature, it is a perfect time to let Gov. Hobbs know that we expect her to continue to work in the interests of Arizona’s working families. Let Gov. Hobbs know that we appreciate her work to stop harmful legislation and deliver on her promises!

AZ GOP killed millions in education funding. Republicans at the Arizona legislature killed a bill to extend Prop. 123 funding, which was set to expire this year. Since its passing, Prop. 123 has delivered over $270mil every year to public education. We continue to see educators leave the profession due to a lack of resources in Arizona’s public schools. The GOP is not fixing the school funding crisis they caused. Arizona’s working families deserve better — it’s time to invest in our public schools.

Some good news, as a treat. On Wednesday, AG Kris Mayes announced a settlement with one property management company involved in the RealPage-led rent-fixing conspiracy with Arizona landlords. Weidner Property Management LLC has terminated its revenue management contracts with RealPage. Under the agreement, Weidner will pay $1 million to current and former tenants, refrain from using algorithm-driven rent recommendation services, and renounce data-sharing with competitors. Weidner is also required to provide annual certifications and reports to the AG’s office to verify compliance with these demands. “Arizona renters deserve a fair and competitive housing market—not one manipulated by secret algorithms and backroom deals,” said Attorney General Mayes. “My office will continue to hold companies accountable and restore transparency and fairness to the rental market.” According to a statement from her office, AG Mayes will continue pursuing claims against other defendants in the case to ensure accountability and protect Arizona consumers.

NO on HB2175. The Arizona House of Representatives is debating your First Amendment right to have and express political beliefs. HB2175 would give prosecutors broad discretion to pick and choose who gets charged with a hate crime based on their political affiliations. We’ve already seen protestors targeted for prosecution for speaking up about ICE abuses. If passed, HB2175 could lead to increased and unfair criminal penalties for all sorts of actions like demonstrating opposition to elected officials. This is a direct violation of our First Amendment rights. Tell our legislators: NO on HB2175.

Thanks to Tyler for sharing this update on Last Week, This Morning for Progress Arizona.

State of the State! Weigh in on Water Bills and Bad Governance

Litigating for our share of the Colorado River

This past week, Governor Hobbs kicked off the legislative session with her State of the State address, where she again focused on water and taking action by establishing the Ranegras Plain Active Management Area in La Paz and Yuma Counties, an area with severe groundwater depletion and subsidence. She highlighted the inaction by the Legislature on water. Governor Hobbs also outlined a program for charging data centers more for water and a plan for helping people save on their energy bills. She mentioned the impasse on the Colorado River negotiations and the need to plan for litigation dollars. You can read a transcript of the speech here or watch it here. 

The week wrapped up with the Governor vetoing the first bill of the session dealing with tax conformity -- the version the Legislature sent her would likely mean big cuts in programs. She also released her budget which contains funding for water and air quality programs, a million dollars for the State Parks Heritage Fund, funding for park rangers, an allocation for helping people with high electric bills, and funding for extreme heat relief, among other funding. The Governor's budget is a starting point and does not reflect what the final budget will be, but it does lay out her priorities. Watch the budget presentation here.

Did anyone have an issue with Request to Speak last week? It said that the site wasn't secure, but we were able to bypass that and submit our positions. Wanted to let you all know that it is operating properly again, so you should be able to sign in on the bills we list below. 

Please, weigh in on the bills on the Request to Speak system before they are heard in their respective committees. 

This week we are supporting these bills: SB1041, HB2096 and HB2116.  

Sign into the Request to Speak system here: 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

Tuesday, January 20th

Joint Appropriations Committee at 10:00 AM
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.

• Presentation of the Executive (Governor) Budget Proposal

Senate Natural Resource Committee at 1:30 PM

• SB1041 appropriation; Arizona trail fund (Rogers) appropriates $500,000 from the general fund for the Arizona Trail. 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.

• HB2030 water conservation grant fund; education (Griffin) eliminates education and research on how to reduce water use from the list of eligible activities for a water conservation grant. Research and education are important components of water conservation and there is no good reason to eliminate it. OPPOSE
• HB2096 forgivable financial assistance; cesspool remediation (Griffin) allows the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) to provide funding to counties for remediating, replacing or closing cesspools that present risks to water and public health. Funding for cleaning up these cesspools that threaten waters and health is important. SUPPORT

Wednesday, January 21st

Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee at 1:30 PM

• SCR1001 citizenship; identification; contributions; early voting (Bolick) refers a measure to the ballot to limit early voting -- all ballots have to be returned the Friday before the election and requires those who want to vote early to provide proof of citizenship each time they want to vote early, thus eliminating the active early voting list and no longer allowing for signature matching for verification. It would no longer allow ballots where there was a question on the signature to be verified after Election Day, which would disenfranchise large numbers of voters. If passed by voters, this would make it much more difficult for voters to vote and to vote early and would disproportionately and negatively affect rural and Tribal voters. OPPOSE

House Appropriations Committee at 2:00 PM
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. 

• Joint Legislative Budget Committee – Baseline
• HB2116 appropriation; Colorado River litigation fund (Griffin) appropriates $1 million for litigation relating to Colorado River allocations. We need funding to defend our Colorado River rights. SUPPORT
• HB2148 noncustodial federal monies; appropriation (Griffin) gives the legislature more power by authorizing them to appropriate these noncustodial funds from the federal government. We are concerned these dollars would not get to where they are needed. For example, dollars for wildlife or air quality. OPPOSE

House Federalism, Military Affairs, and Elections Committee at 2:00 PM

• HM2001 withdrawal; United Nations; urging Congress (Powell) Urges the President and Congress to withdraw from the U.N. to better serve this country's interests. OPPOSE 
• HCR2001 citizenship; identification; contributions; early voting (Kolodin: Chaplik, Heap, et al) includes provisions similar to SCR1001 above. House version of the same bill. OPPOSE

Thursday, January 22nd at 6:00 PM

• Learn About Climate and Clean Energy - RSVP Here. Sierra Club training to prepare for Environmental Day at the Capitol. 

Arizona Legislature session ends but not without some damage

bye bye

Here is an update on the end of this legislative session from Sandy Bahr from the Sierra Club. 

Phew! The Arizona Legislature finally adjourned sine die last Saturday and we can all breathe a little bit easier. They did more than their fair share of harm before heading out, however, including a godawful budget that does little to prepare Arizona for the challenges we face, a plethora of bad water bills, and a couple more bad referrals.

I will provide a quick overview here, but look for our Environmental Report Card on the Legislature for a fuller picture.

In the last two days of the session, legislators sent nine water bills to the Governor's desk, she signed four of them and vetoed five of them. She should have vetoed them all as none of them make our water future more sustainable and none of them take the comprehensive approach she said she wanted relative to water. Read more about the bills here and here. There is some talk of a special session to address the 80 percent of the state that has no groundwater protections. Frankly, having seen what transpired during the session, I am not optimistic about a special session.

Unfortunately, the Governor also signed a bill to exempt more actions from the Arizona Power Plant and Line Siting Committee process that requires a certificate of environmental Compatibility. HB2003 replacement lines; structures; commission hearings (Griffin) allows a utility that previously received a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) to replace a cable or wire on a transmission line or an existing structure with a new structure without getting a new CEC, but it must be in compliance with the existing CEC. Unfortunately, it includes a big loophole for any lines that were sited prior to 1971. Utilities failed to provide any kind of information on what lines or how many would be affected. The bill could have been easily fixed and Senator Sundareshan offered an amendment to do so, but the proponents refused to remove the pre 1971 loophole. Those lines had no review by the Committee, no CEC, and no terms and conditions with which to comply. Modifications could have significant impacts to natural and cultural resources. This passed and was signed by the Governor.

In the good news category, the Governor vetoed HB2376 federal government; land acquisition; consent (Diaz: Hendrix). It mandated approval by the state legislature for any land sale to the U.S. Government. This was 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.

HB2377 federal lands; state management costs (Diaz: Hendrix, McGarr) would have required the Auditor General and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to complete a cost and revenue study of the annual costs to manage all federal public land in Arizona and all current revenue generated by federal lands. This measure did not include the indirect revenues and benefits for these public lands and would provide a skewed perspective on these important lands. This failed to go to a final read in the House, so died.

Also in the good news category was that none of the bad energy and transportation referrals reached the ballot. HCR2040, HCR2049, and HCR2050 all failed to get a floor vote in the Senate.

HCR2040 public monies; prohibited expenditures (Smith: Biasiucci, Carbone, et al.) would have placed 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 never came to the Senate Floor.

HCR2049 had a strike-everything amendment that would have referred to the ballot a constitutional amendment to prohibit any fees based on vehicle miles traveled. As we reduce reliance on gasoline and gasoline-powered vehicles, gas tax revenues will continue to decrease and other ways to fund road maintenance are needed such as looking at vehicle miles traveled. This never came to the Senate Floor.

HCR2050 energy source; restriction; prohibition (Griffin: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al) would have 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. This would have made it harder to protect our air, our water, our health, and our communities. It never came to the Senate Floor.

The legislature also failed to bring HCR2056 elections; foreign contributions; donations; certification (Montenegro: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al.), across the finish line. It would have referred a ballot measure to restrict voting accessibility, create more administrative burdens to the detriment of voters, and leave election officials with little to no support. It failed to reach the Senate Floor for a Third Read.

The bad news again is they did refer several bad measures that may appear on the ballot, including the following.

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 be hinder ballot measures as they could be challenged while people are still collecting signatures.

SCR1044 judicial retention elections (Gowan: Shamp) refers to the 2024 ballot a measure that eliminates terms of office for judges and allows them to continue to serve during “good behavior" and reduces the frequency of judicial retention elections.

HCR2060 Now: border; benefits; fentanyl; illegal entry (Toma) will be on the ballot for this fall, unless the constitutional challenge to it is successful. LUCHA is suing because the measure includes more than one subject and that is prohibited by the Arizona Constitution. This referral will make it easier for law enforcement to engage in racial profiling and to investigate and detain suspected undocumented individuals. It is very likely unconstitutional, would cost the state a lot, and, of course, is inhumane, seeking to criminalize people for seeking opportunities and reuniting with their families.

The budget, again, was not great on many levels, but certainly from an environmental perspective. Even during the best of times, environmental programs are underfunded. This budget included nothing for the State Parks Heritage Fund, no dollars for the Arizona Trail, no funding for Trees for Kids, and a lot of environmental fund diversions. It did include some funding for water quality programs at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and at least there was no funding for the Water Augmentation Fund -- that was intended for the big desalination project.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support and actions throughout this session. You make a difference! You can see more bills we tracked here and look for the report card on the Legislature in the coming weeks.

See below for an interim committee at the Legislature.

Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Water Security Friday, June 28 at 1:00 PM

Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here:

https://www.azleg.gov/videoplayer/?clientID=6361162879&eventID=2024061051

 

AGENDA

1.	Overview of Amended SB 1221 – Senate Research Staff
2.	Comparison of AMAs, INAs, and BMAs – Dan Jones, Salmon Lewis & Weldon PLC
3.	Agricultural Perspective on Groundwater Management Act Origins – Ron Rayner
4.	Overview of Changes and Concessions Made from Introduced SB 1221 to Current SB 1221 – Stefanie Smallhouse, Arizona Farm Bureau Federation
5.	Significance and Value of Closing a Basin on Rural Economies, Groundwater Conservation, and Aquifer Protection – a.   Arizona Department of Water Resources b.   University of Arizona Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics c.   Bas Aja, Arizona Cattle Feeder' Association
6.	Agricultural Industry Testimony on Good Faith Negotiations – a.   Phil Bashaw, Arizona Farm Bureau Federation b.   Nicholas Kenney, Maricopa County Farm Bureau c.   Zach Fort, United Dairymen of Arizona d.   Rob VanHofwegen Jr., Paloma Irrigation & Drainage District e.   Robert Meddler, Western Growers Association f. Jadee Rohner, Arizona Cotton Growers Association g.   Patrick Bray, Arizona Farm & Ranch Group

 

Fate of Arizona's recent environmental legislation: 25 bills introduced, one new law

Take Action to Oppose Resolution Copper Water Permit that will deplete our water and devastate majestic Oak Flat

V

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.

Take Action to Oppose Resolution Copper Water Permit

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has released a Public Notice that it intends to issue an Individual Industrial Recycled Water Permit to Resolution Copper Mining. The permit would allow Resolution Copper to deliver water obtained from the dewatering of their mine facilities at Oak Flat and near Superior to the New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District where it would be mixed with water coming from the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal and used for irrigation.

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.
 

Please sign on to this petition asking ADEQ to reject this permit renewal.
The Sierra Club will deliver the petition to ADEQ on May 7th.

https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Arizona?actionId=AR0438546

Last chance to stop dirty bills

Dirty Cholla Coal plant still in operation in Arizona 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.   Please ask Governor Hobbs to veto HB2646.

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: https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/?body=S

Urge Governor Hobbs to veto HB2788 that prohibits Arizona from doing anything in the UN Sustainable Development Goals

HB2788 United Nations; sustainable development; prohibition (Jones: Biasiucci, Bliss, et al.) has passed both houses of the legislature on a party line vote and is going to the governor's desk for approval. It prohibits Arizona or any of its political subdivisions from adopting the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations, which means they are objecting to support for ending poverty, support for achieving food security, ensuring healthy lives, achieving gender equality, and protecting the planet and our ability to live on it by objecting to action on climate change and promoting water sustainability. Effectively, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) apply to all functions of government so, if the governor doesn't veto this bill, state and local governments would be prohibited from spending funds on nearly everything they currently do. As just one example, if state and local governments could not act on target 6.4 of the SDGs, that would make the Groundwater Management Act unenforceable and effectively end water conservation measures in Arizona. It's quite obvious that the partisan legislators that passed this bill don't have any understanding of the SDGs - they just wanted to show their opposition to anything that is "green" or "woke."

Here is the list of UN Sustainable Development Goals showing how broad their scope is.

For more detailed descriptions of the SDGs, targets, and indicators - as well as a wealth of information about global progress (or lack thereof) in achieving the goals, check out the UN's Sustainable Development Goals website.

Please contact Governor Hobbs to encourage her to veto HB2788 before Monday.

AZ Legislative Update and Request to Speak Action, 1/7/2024

On Monday, the Arizona Legislature will start its 2024 session, kicking off with the live State of the State address from Governor Hobbs.

Sustainable Tucson joined the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations in signing onto the priorities for the Arizona Legislature and Governor at the Capitol. The focus of the priorities is water, but climate/clean energy, democracy, and environmental justice are also included. You can read the priorities here.

On Tuesday, legislators will start hearing bills in committees. Please, look out for weekly REQUEST TO SPEAK actions. You can weigh in on bills (listed below) by using the RTS app anytime before they are heard in committee.

Sign onto the RTS app: 

https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon

Review Request to Speak directions:

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

If you haven't already, register for the RTS system here:

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

Monday, January 8th

First Day of the 2024 Legislative Session.

Governor Hobbs's State of the State address at 2:00 PM. You can view it live here.

Tuesday, January 9th

House Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee at 2:00 PM in House Hearing Room (HHR) 1 
View a livestream of the committee here.

Presentations:

• “Overview of the Central Arizona Project," Brenda Burman, General Manager of the Central Arizona Project
• “Overview of the Salt River Project,” Kyle Tilghman, Director of Water Strategy and Bill McClellan, Manager of Resource Development
• “Overview of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority,” Chuck Podolak, Executive Director of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority
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• HB2016 grandfathered right; subsequent AMA; extension (Griffin) is an emergency measure, meaning it will become law immediately if the Governor signs it. The bill  extends the deadline for a person to claim a grandfathered right to withdraw or receive and use groundwater in the Douglas active management area
  (AMA)*. This will further delay getting this AMA on track to limiting groundwater pumping. OPPOSE
• HB2027 subsequent AMAs; assured water supply (Griffin) exempts proposed subdivisions from the requirements of an ordinance that has been adopted by either a municipality or a county if the proposed subdivision is included within the boundaries of a subsequent active management area (AMA)*. This would affect counties such as Cochise and Yuma and would give subdivisions an automatic assured water supply if there was an adequate water supply. This is a loophole to weaken the requirements for Assured Water Supply in a newly approved Active Management Area. OPPOSE
• HB2099 active management area; groundwater right (Griffin) allows a groundwater user located in an area previously designated as an irrigation non-expansion area (INA) that becomes designated as an AMA* to receive a water duty (maximum amount of water per acre) based on the groundwater user's highest annual withdrawal since the INA was established. This will maximize rather than minimize groundwater pumping in this new AMA. It also has an emergency clause on it. OPPOSE
  

*For more information on the Arizona Groundwater Management Act, here is the recording of the workshop.