The good news is... The bill to ban PFAS in firefighting foam (HB2641) is scheduled for a hearing, as is a bill to prohibit homeowners associations from blocking backyard shade structures (HB2342). Yay!
Please use the Request to Speak app to show support of these good bills before they are heard in committee.
Please use the Request to Speak app to show support of these good bills before they are heard in committee.
The bad news is: Several terrible bills have made it through committee. You can still push back on two of them by using the Sierra Club's petitions (below our weekly update).
Full directions here:
https://desktopactivisttucson.
If you haven't signed up for the system, you can find the form here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/
Wednesday, March 25th
Senate Government Committee at 7:00 AM
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here.
- HB2641 PFAS; firefighting foam; prohibition (Ligouri: Biasucci, Fink, et al) 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. SUPPORT
Senate Regulatory Affairs Government Efficiency Committee at 9:00 AM
- HB2342 homeowners' associations; shade structures (Travers: Weninger, Willoughby) prohibits Homeowners Associations (HOAs) from erecting unreasonable impediments to shade structures in backyards. We would love for it to include other energy-saving and shading mechanisms, but this is a start. SUPPORT
Legislative Update:
Next week is the last week to hear bills in committee with the exception of Appropriations. While the Senate committees are not hearing all of the House bills that were sent over, they are still hearing far too many harmful bills. The majority in the Legislature continues to find ways to try and disadvantage solar energy, but we have been able to kill a number of those bills, plus work to improve others. We are hopeful the Governor will veto the remaining bills, should they reach her desk. Next week is "Lobo Week," to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves into the wild here in Arizona. The Legislature will mostly be celebrating by proceeding with bills to undermine important protections for wolves. There will be some actions on the floor, however, to highlight the importance of these highly endangered animals. Representative Mariana Sandoval read a supportive resolution on the floor of the House. You can watch it here. (Advance to 27:28). Monday, Senator Priya Sundareshan will sponsor a similar proclamation on the floor of the Senate. Tune in to hear that around 1:15 PM by going to this link on the Legislature's website and clicking the Senate. To help us celebrate Lobo Week, please take action on the bills below. |
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photo courtesy of USFWS |
SB1280 Public monies; Mexican wolf; Prohibition (Farnsworth) passed out of the House Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee this week and could make it to the floor of the House next week. The bill 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. |
HB2758 McMullen Valley; eligible entities; groundwater (Griffin: Blackman) passed out of the Senate Natural Resources Committee along party lines. Please consider sending your senator a message opposing it, if you have not already. This 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 facilitates creating 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. It is interesting to see the legislators who say they are looking out for rural Arizona readily agree to this harmful bill. Before it passed the House a number of amendments made the bill even worse than the bill that was passed in committee. Among other things, they increased the limit of the total amount of groundwater that can be transported within La Paz County from 10% to 50%. Please ask your Senator to Vote NO on HB2758 and add a personal note about why you care - Thanks to Sandy Bahr, Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club |
