PHOENIX – Republican state senators representing Sun City and Queen Creek have different ideas about transportation funding.
The debate on SB 1122 addresses whether Maricopa County voters will have the opportunity to extend the half-cent sales tax on transportation projects for an additional 20 years.
That’s only possible with the permission of the Republican-controlled Arizona legislature. Several Republican lawmakers also said they would give the go-ahead only if the amount set aside for public transit would be reduced from current levels and it would not be used to fund light rail at all.
For now, Monday’s 4-3 vote by the Senate Transportation Technology Committee to repeal SB 1122 invalidates the upcoming election.
The Maricopa County levy is set to expire in 2025 unless lawmakers green light the election.
Monday’s debate and vote will require counties wanting to fund transportation projects to seek approval from their voters only if their plans conform to how state legislators agree to spend the money. It indicates obtaining legislative approval.
This is where a conflict arises between Senator Frank Carroll (R-Suncity) and Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek).
Carroll has championed a broader approach with continued funding for alternatives to highway construction. This is a plan prepared and endorsed by the Maricopa Government Association, which consists of cities, tribes, and elected officials from urban areas in Maricopa and Pinal counties from all regions.
Carroll said rising gasoline prices will increase the need for alternatives to driving.
Hoffmann rejected it as being driven by “nudge theory”.
“This is a tactic favored by the Left called ‘choice architecture,’ which basically forces people to accept the policies that the people who set the rules want.
Hoffman, under President Joe Biden, closed the Keystone Pipeline, closed the area from offshore drilling, and refused to renew some of the lease permits for drilling in Alaska. , said it was happening.
“The left is making a concerted effort to push up the cost of gas,” he said, which would advance their agenda of driving and reducing emissions.
But Carroll, who sponsored a bill to give more money to public transit and continue the dollar for light rail, said that might be true, but that it was also irrelevant. It is a reality for taxpayers, he said.
“They still have to work, they have to go places,” Carroll said.
More importantly, legislators, backed by groups like the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, are developing housing projects away from the county’s urban centers. If so, do they know what voters want better than local elected officials?
Avondale Mayor Kenn Weise, chair of the MAG, acknowledged that not all communities will benefit from each part of the plan, which is developed on a regional basis. For example, he said his residents wouldn’t be helped by light rail that doesn’t extend into his community.
However, he said the plan was unanimously adopted after “extensive public opinion” as it was in the best interests of all involved.
In fact, state legislators agreed to put it on the ballot last year. However, it was scrapped by the then government. Doug Ducey has even refused to leave the issue to voters.
The result was a new and revised plan for this year, with more shares directed to the pavement.
What Congress wants to do is turn locally adopted plans into priorities of its own and those of “special interests,” i.e. groups that financially benefit from giving more money to road building rather than transportation. Weisz said it’s about subverting with what it means.
The MAG hopes to give voters the opportunity to approve legislator-made plans, tax-adopted ballots, and the first 20-year plan for 1985 and renewal for 2005.
Weise rejected Hoffmann’s proposal for two separate votes. He said it would destroy the idea of having a plan for everyone to recognize the needs of the larger community.
He said that’s why the MAG plan was able to include funding for an extension of State Route 24 in the Hoffman area far from Avondale. county.
Monday’s vote raises the question of whether Maricopa County voters (and voters elsewhere) will have the opportunity to enact or extend existing taxes for transportation plans if they don’t get the approval of a majority of lawmakers. remain.
Howard Fisher
Mr. Fisher is an award-winning Arizona journalist and founder and operator of Capitol Media Services.
