The next time you’re late for work and cruising down the highway at 11 km/h, consider:
Could be worse.
In fact, it could soon be worse for all of us thanks to the Arizona legislative babbling.
Congress wants its own transportation plan
The far-right crowd that runs the place seems to despise light rail.
So much so that Maricopa County voters are willing to block decisions on whether to continue funding locally approved plans to expand highways, highways and buses in the Valley.
Apparently, these Republican lawmakers know better than the Valley mayor, tribal leaders, and county leaders who unanimously approved a regional transportation plan that took at least five years to develop.
Apparently, they warn that if they don’t continue to fund a balanced transportation system in this country’s fastest growing county, they will stifle economic growth and drive out good jobs. I know better than the leader.
And they definitely think they know better than the county voters who approved the half-cent sales tax that built Loops 101, 202, and 303 in 1985 and 2004.
Bill Bans Any Cash for Light Rail Expansion
On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill to approve a popular vote to extend the county’s transportation tax, but only if not a single cent is spent on light rail expansion.
Still, the bill’s originators warned it might not pass a Republican-controlled Congress.
“This is about life support,” House Appropriations Chairman David Livingston, Republican Peoria, warned the Maricopa Government Association and others who oppose. Senate Bill 1122.
Current taxes expire in December 2025, and unlike every other county in the state, Maricopa cannot ask voters to extend the tax without legislative approval.
The MAG plan was approved by Congress last year but rejected by the government at the time. Doug Ducey gets hives at the mere mention of taxes.
You can’t build a highway wide enough for this
Now we have a new parliament. It looks at the business world with suspicion and dances to the tune of the Far Right and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. They are clearly people willing to part with billions of dollars to match federal funds and economic interests. Development that appeared along the light rail line.
They consider light rail to be very expensive and underutilized due to COVID-19 and increased work from home, and transport plans are not about what is happening now, but what will happen in 2050. It ignores the fact that it belongs to
No more peas and guacamole?Lawmakers hate message on highway sign
Never mind that they just want to build highways, not fast enough or wide enough to handle the explosive growth that will take place over the next 25 years.
Or, in Phoenix and Tempe, where roads have already been built, their plans may not go through.
Livingston’s bill would spend 39% of its income on public transportation.
Other Republicans want to cut bus service as well.
Without railways, the plan may fail on the ballot
Cities, on the other hand, prefer their own locally approved plans, developed after hundreds of public meetings and countless hours of negotiation. His 40.4% of the funds should go to public transport and up to 14% to light rail expansion.
Longtime mover and shaker Count Marty Schultz, who worked on both the original transportation plan in 1985 and the expansion plan in 2004, is among those worried about the stalemate. He is even trying to persuade Congress to put his MAG plan to a vote after he retires.
Schultz believes any balanced plan should include a light rail expansion to succeed. A failure at the ballot box, he warns, would be a “serious detriment” to our economy.
“I worry that if we don’t continue to invest in our transportation system, we will lose momentum and lose strategic opportunities in Arizona,” he told me.
Shouldn’t the future of light rail be in the hands of voters?
There are good reasons to feel that way.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a dispute over taxes Threatening the expansion of large-scale semiconductor manufacturing Campus under construction in North Phoenix.
Loop 303 (funded by Proposition 400) is one of the reasons Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. chose Phoenix. The first factory is set to open next year, and the company has already announced plans to open his second factory in 2026. come.
But don’t look for it to impress the free people of the far right. All.
Now I know why Republicans don’t like light rail. It is expensive and their members do not use it.
But Maricopa County voters approved it. Isn’t it our decision to continue it or not?
reach roberts laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.comFollow her on Twitter. @ Laurie Roberts.
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