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

UPDATE: ON JUNE 12 PRUITT RECOMMENDED THAT BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT BE DOWNSIZED

Secretary Zinke’s decision today to recommend to reduce the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument is a disappointment and a threat to all monuments under review, including the Grand Staircase-Escalante.

After a “listening” tour that intentionally excluded stakeholders and a public comment period where the people of Utah joined with the American public to overwhelmingly implore the Secretary to make no recommendations altering our beloved national monuments, today’s news comes with little surprise. “Disregarding the very process this administration constructed, this report from Secretary Zinke is blatant attack on a monument that has been decades in the making. Bears Ears already represents a compromise between Rep. Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative and the requests of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition,” said Nicole Croft, Executive Director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. “ This recommendation should be viewed for what it is: another land grab in a shameful history of violating the sovereignty of Native American people.”

The vast majority of legal scholars agree that while the Antiquities Act grants the President the power to designate a monument, only Congress can modify the boundaries, and any attempt to shrink the national treasure that is Bears Ears National Monument through executive action would certainly be vigorously challenged within the courts.

That is just the beginning! Now our own Arizona Congressmen are after the nearby Ironwood Forest National Monument and the Sonoran Desert National Monument!

Have you added your public statement yet? Please, take a moment to share why these monuments are important to you, Arizona or the planet. 

The deadline is TODAY,  Monday, July 10th. 

http://monumentsforall.org/