COCONINO COUNTY DEMOCRATS ARIZONA LEGISLATIVE ALERT
August 9, 2023
STATUS UPDATE
The longest and ugliest legislative session has come to a close after 204 days. It was a session filled with bad legislation that went to the Governor’s desk and was vetoed, setting a veto record, and good bills that failed to get a hearing. The legislators did NOTHING to address climate change or water availability. Leadership in the House and Senate set new standards of incivility and many advocates were harangued as they advocated for democracy, environmental protection, and other issues at committee hearings.
Maricopa County’s Prop 400 will be allowed to be on the ballot. This will allow the voters to decide to extend and existing sales tax to support transportation funding. This sales tax has been around for 40 years and has been used to fund light rail, Loop 101, 202 and 303 as well as a lot of other upgrades. The legislature exacted some critical concessions: it limits light rail extensions, precludes any light rail routes that lead directly to the Capitol, prohibits limiting vehicles based on the energy source they use. In addition, Republicans required that Governor Hobbs sign a bill preventing cities and counties from taxing rental sales. This will reduce tax income about $230 million across the state – which will require those cities and counties affected to raise taxes in other ways to regain that lost income.
Many of Governor Hobbs’ appointees remain unconfirmed by the state Senate and their fate is still in limbo. This unprecedented abuse of power by the AZ Senate is having serious impacts on state operations. No one knows what is next on this front.
Mark Finchem, the far-right election denier who ran for Secretary of State in 2020, just filed for State Senate in LD 1! Finchem denied the 2020 and the 2022 election results, sympathized with Donald Trump, and participated in the January 6th insurrection. Finchem is a dangerous threat to democracy – he will do everything in his power to restrict access to voting, disenfranchise voters, and overturn the results of elections he doesn’t like. We have lots of work to do in LD 1.
Here is the contact information for our Legislators:
AZ SENATE:
LD 1 – Ken Bennett 602-926-5874
LD 7 – Wendy Rogers 602-926-3042
LD 6 – Theresa Hatathlie 602-926-5160
President Warren Petersen 602-926-4136
Majority Ldr Sonny Borrelli 602-926-5031
Minority Ldr Denise Epstein 602-926-4870
AZ HOUSE:
LD 1 – Selina Bliss 602-926-4018
LD 1 – Quang Nguyen 602-926-3258
LD 7 – David Cook 602-926-5162
LD 7 – David Marshall 602-926-3579
LD 6 – Mae Peshlakai 602-926-3708
LD 6 – Myron Tsosie 602-926-3157
Speaker Ben Toma 602-926-3298
Majority Ldr Leo Biasiucci 602-926-3018
Minority Ldr Andres Cano 602-926-3027
E-Mail Contact for Governor Katie Hobbs:
https://azgovernor.gov/contact/form/contact-governor-hobbs
E-Mail Contacts for Governor Hobbs Staff:
John Owens
Janelle Pedregon