Arizona Legislature passes Prop. 400 extension plan; Hobbs will veto

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Arizona Legislature passes Prop. 400 extension plan; Hobbs will veto

June 14, 2023

Republicans plan Tuesday to ask voters to extend the transit sales tax, known as Proposition 400, which includes partisan priorities such as a halt to the light rail expansion to the Capitol and a preemptive ban on gasoline-burning vehicles. sent to Governor Katie Hobbs.

The Democratic governor promised to immediately veto.

“From day one, I pledged to be fully committed to growing the economy and bringing high-paying jobs to Arizona workers in the state,” Hobbs said in a statement. “The Republican leadership’s partisan bill does neither of those things, and will be vetoed when it reaches my desk.”

Hobbes called on lawmakers to vote on a compromise backed by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the region’s regional planning agency and the main proponent of the continuation of Prop. 400. Hobbes said the bill would have bipartisan support, she called: She called on Republican leaders to “stop playing political partisanship” and “stop holding our nation’s economic potential hostage.”

Lawmakers will finish much of their policymaking work for the rest of the year on Tuesday, but the governor’s veto will jeopardize a tax that proponents say is vital to the Phoenix metropolitan area’s economy. Become. Opponents of Hobbes’ plan say the light rail only serves three cities in Maricopa County, so countywide tax dollars will be used to spend billions of dollars to expand the light rail. opposed.

Proposition 400, first approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985, would impose a half-cent sales tax to fund highways, major roads, and public transit. The scheme expires at the end of 2025, and passing Congress to put the issue on a vote in November 2024 was the route favored by proponents to keep the tax going.

Unlike 14 other Arizona counties, Maricopa County requires congressional approval to bring the issue to voters. The Republican-dominated Congress passed a bipartisan tax increase last year that was ultimately vetoed by a Republican governor on the grounds of high inflation, but in November many far-right lawmakers were elected to Congress. This has raised uncertainty about whether history will repeat itself. Year.

Hobbes’ office, between House Speaker Ben Thoma (R-Glendale) and Senate Speaker Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), struggled and eventually reached a dead end. In recent days, the two leaders have publicly exchanged curses and criticized each other. Stick to agreements and be unwilling to compromise. A Hail Mary meeting on Monday morning between Mr. Thoma, Mr. Petersen and Mr. Hobbes’ new chief of staff, former Democratic Rep. Chad Campbell, failed to reach an agreement.

So Republicans went ahead with the partisan plan they sent to Hobbes around 8 p.m. Tuesday without winning a single Democratic vote. The bill passed the House, 31-26, without three votes, and passed the Senate in a partisan vote. Mr. Hobbes then immediately voiced his veto.

Problems on Both Sides of the Political Divide

Thomas said the governor would not yield to Republican requests to cancel plans to extend the light rail to the state capitol just west of downtown Phoenix. This phase of the expansion was approved by voters in 2004, but Mr. Thoma said the light rail’s proximity to the Capitol “basically means that every time you come to the Capitol, you get a rub on your face.” .

He asked the governor to sign the Republican version. Senate Bill 1246Congressmen such as Rep. David Livingston (R-Peoria) argued that this was Mr. Hobbes’ best option.

“I think she should sign it and that should be the end of us,” Thoma said. “But if she chooses to veto, she has to come up with a solution that can get my caucus on board. And frankly, they’re being put I don’t know how that’s going to happen given the location and some of the circumstances, and they chose to stick with it.”

The Maricopa Government Association opposed the Republican plan that landed on Hobbes’ desk, arguing that the plan and the governor compromised as much as possible.

MAG executive director Ed Zurcher said the Republican version of the bill not only risks failing to comply with federal air quality standards for transportation systems, but also allows counties to obtain matching funding from the federal government for transportation projects. Said it could get in the way.

Zurcher said Republicans who make up the Congressional Freedom Caucus have re-directed their demands and ultimately their bill will impress the governor if he vetoes a bad plan. He said it was a political move to make things worse.

Last-minute requests included in the now-deceased Republican bill include increasing the speed limit to 65 miles per hour on portions of Interstate 17, while the bill’s provisions extend to State Route 51. Several lawmakers said it would apply. Prohibits local governments and counties from taking measures to restrict the sale and use of internal combustion engines.

Complicating the way the plan worked with the governor’s office was asking Maricopa County residents to vote twice on extending the tax. A two-question approach asks voters to approve a majority of tax revenues to fund public transportation such as highways, highways and buses, but not light rail. The second question asks whether the rest of the half-cent tax should be used to support existing light rail.

Hobbes’ compromise meant that 40% of the money raised would go to highways, 22% to the city’s main roads and 38% to transportation. The Republican proposal allocated 53.5 percent to highways, 18.5 percent to the city’s major roads and intersections, known as highways, and 28 percent to public transportation.

Debate heats up in the House

After the bill was introduced to the House, a flurry of questions and answers began between Rep. Athena Salman, Democratic Rep. Tempe and Rep. Thomas. Salman criticized that key details, such as the two-vote plan, were already known but not made public sooner. She and other Democrats also opposed Republican efforts to block a previously voter-approved light rail expansion near the Capitol.

“Voters are saying they want light rail in certain places, and you’re saying you don’t want light rail in certain places?” she said.

“If voters in a particular municipality want the light rail to extend to a particular location, they should have to pay for it themselves,” Thoma replied, adding that the light rail would loop around the Capitol. He said it was a “stupid” idea to go to

Debates continued as lawmakers explained the content of their votes. Republicans have framed this argument in framing the cancellation of the light rail system, which they see as a waste of taxpayers’ money, while Democrats believe that the inability to move forward with a stronger plan will hurt low-income and rural economies. I pictured a disaster coming. number one.

Democratic Rep. Lorena Austin (D-Mesa) hits back at Republican concerns, saying downtown Mesa is “booming” with new businesses thanks to light rail, and wants to go to work but doesn’t have a car He called on the Republican Party to take care of the people.

“Put yourself in the shoes of some voters and decide how to proceed,” she said.

Senator Jake Hoffman (Republican, Queen Creek, Freedom Caucus leader) didn’t go into detail about what the caucus wants from the bill. He and Petersen accused the governor of not getting enough involved in the negotiations and said the Republican bill gave voters a chance to consider transportation plans.

Hoffman met several times during the day with representatives of the highly political Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which campaigns against the light rail and helps fund far-right candidates. He dismissed the idea that he was at the mercy of the club, saying it was “a spokesperson for taxpayers and commuters” and was only trying to make their voices heard.

Liberal lawmakers released a statement shortly after the Senate passed the bill, calling it a “great victory.”

“Republicans in the Senate and House have shown that bold conservative leadership can produce wise and inclusive public policy that best serves the interests of the voters who elected us,” Hoffman said in a statement. He called on the governor to sign a “smart commuter-friendly, taxpayer-friendly plan.”

Work on Capitol could end in July

Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to return to the Capitol until July 31, at which point personnel are expected to formally close. Lawmakers have spent the past two days in the House on the assumption that this week will be their last real job, though they may go back and consider another version of Proposition 400.