Legislative Updates 2004

Hi all! Whew! What a crazy week. At least most of the committee hearings are over and we don’t have to watch any more of Representative Joe Hart’s tantrums as Chair of the Environment Committee — at least not this year. (One can only hope he is not a committee chair next year.) In a very weird move, Representative Hart adjourned the Environment Committee meeting mid-vote on SB1081 animal and ecological terrorism, an unnecessary and silly bill, which clearly overreaches. It appeared the bill was going down to defeat, so Mr. Hart just gaveled the meeting to a close. I do believe this is a violation of the House Rules and it would have effectively killed the bill anyway, but the rules are seldom applied fairly at the Legislature and no bad behavior goes unrewarded. The Speaker withdrew the bill from Environment and assigned it to Appropriations where I am sure it will just sail through. And they wonder why people would rather do initiatives than try to deal with this process.

It was a tough week at the Legislature for Arizona’s forests. Trying to talk about ecological principles with the Legislature is challenging at best. Science and common sense go out the window and emotion and rhetoric rule. My favorite comments came from Salt River Project. They were supporting the logging subsidy bill because it would help promote more logging and therefore those pesky trees would not be using the water that everyone knows belongs to Salt River Project. All sarcasm aside, HB2549 S/E Healthy Forests and SB1212 S/E Healthy Forests are terrible bills. Despite comments to the contrary, there is nothing in them that requires the tax credits, tax breaks, and tax exemptions apply to small diameter tree thinning. The only requirement is that “[a]t least one-half of the forest product must be from forest thinnngs or biomass.” With no requirement that the thinning address the small diameter trees, this means that a good deal of this could be the same kind of logging that has helped promote unhealthy conditions in the forests. Besides, from where will the other 50 percent come?

The bills authorize a county board of supervisors to establish healthy forest management zones that can include state, federal, and private land that is wooded land and at least one square mile in area. Within that zone, it authorizes tax credits, exemptions form sales tax and use tax on machinery and equipment, individual and corporate income tax credits for employing state residents, for industries that use or add value to forest products or biomass. It also gives a sales tax break to prime contractors for construction in the healthy forest management zones. It allows certain business property to be taxed at a lower rate (Class 6) if it is within the zone. These are clear subsidies for logging operations. There was no fiscal note with the bill, but Senator Jarrett said repeatedly that it would cost nothing. Is that what Jeff Groscost said about those alternative fuels tax credits? Please call your senators and representatives this week and ask them to oppose the bills as drafted and to support the following principles in the forest bills:

Save the remaining old growth forests (only 5% is remaining in the southwest).

Protect the large, more fire resistant trees.

Target thinning efforts on small diameter trees (12” and smaller).

Focus limited dollars on thinning and prescribed burns near communities at risk.

HB2127 S/E Healthy Forests was also heard this week. It allows counties and municipalities to establish urban-wildland interface areas and also to establish ordinances regarding the removal of flammable vegetation and fuels. It includes provisions that authorize requirements for defensible space, removal of flammable materials, and emergency vehicle access, among others. It authorizes fire districts to adopt a specific urban-wildland interface code. Unlike the strike everything amendment on HB2549, this bill does focus on protecting homes and communities and does not subsidize the timber industry. We support the provisions in this bill. It appears that the plan is to try and come up with one compromise bill next week. Please tell your senators to support this bill.

HB2449 S/E wildlife damage; absolute immunity was held and therefore died in the Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee. It looked like the votes were not there as committee members seemed concerned that if the bill passed, the agribusiness and livestock industries might not be able to pick the taxpayers pockets for wildlife damage.

HB2527 schools; solar equipment (Clark, Boone, Graf, and Mitchell), a bill which requires the school facilities board to include guidelines on the use of renewable energy in schools including guidelines to require the use of solar cooling and hot water heating methods instead of conventional systems, passed out of Education, but still has the Appropriations Committee hurdle. HB2528 state buildings; solar standards (Boone, Clark, Graf, and Mitchell), which requires that energy life cycle costing be used to evaluate all solar water heating and water cooling facilities for state buildings, also still has to get through Appropriations. It requires the use of solar water heating and cooling if the simple payback is twelve years or less or equal to the useful life of the product. HB2526 solar electricity; property tax classification (Clark, Boone, Graf, Mitchell), which directs the Department of Commerce to develop a program for tax incentives for businesses that produce energy via on-site solar energy generation equipment, appears to be dead, as does HB2613 taxation solar energy equipment (Graf: Boone, Carruthers, et al). That bill provides a reduction in property tax valuation for commercial and residential systems, extends the state personal income tax credit - up to $5,000 per residence and creates a state business income tax credit - up to $25,000 per building.

It appears that HB2400 vested property rights (Farnsworth) is dead for this year. It establishes vested rights when a zoning application is approved or when a site plan is submitted and meets the zoning requirements. That is truly ridiculous. As if we need more land speculation or as if the developers didn’t have enough influence. WE OPPOSED THIS. HB2437 S/E notice to commissioner; subdivision sales also appears to be dead. It was the third iteration of a bill which requires a statement to the real estate commissioner regarding uses and conditions located within 600 feet of the property that could adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of the purchaser. This 600 feet disclosure is a joke. Currently, the commissioner is requiring them to disclose those issues within two or three miles. WE OPPOSED IT.

HB2278 assured water supply certificate; assignment (Hart) allows transfer of assured water supply certificate under certain conditions. It eliminates any kind of public notice on this. We oppose that and would like to see public notice reinstated in the bill. It went through committee and it appears that the Homebuilders are unwilling to budge on the public notice, so we will oppose it.

HCR2009 initiatives; filing date (Quelland, Biggs, C. Gray, et al) passed out of Senate Appropriations on Wednesday. It refers to the ballot a measure which requires initiative signatures to be filed seven months before the general election ­ currently it is four months. This measure hurts grassroots organizations and further advantages wealthy interests relative to initiatives as the grassroots entities usually need the time to get the signatures, especially as they get more signatures from volunteer signature gatherers. WE OPPOSE THE BILL.

HCR2011 voter approved expenditures; limitation (Konopnicki, Barnes, Gray C, Hubbs, et al) has still not gone through Rules and is not scheduled for Monday, so I am guessing they are looking at amendments. It refers to the ballot a measure which undercuts voter approved ballot measures by requiring that any measure involving a mandatory expenditure also include a new revenue source that cannot be the general fund. It does not matter if the dollars required are only for start up or if it is a relatively small expenditure. It also allows the legislature to proportionately reduce an appropriation for a specific purpose if the monies approved for the purpose are insufficient to cover all of the costs and it allows them to use that amount to compute future expenditures and is retroactive to 1998.

Here is what’s up in committees this week:

The Senate Appropriations Committee agenda was not yet posted, but it will be meeting and also I believe the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee will do boards and commissions appointments.

Tuesday, April 13^th

House Committee on Appropriations at 1:30 p.m. in HHR4

SB1081 animal and ecological terrorism (Verschoor, Allen, Harper, et al) was amended to remove the most egregious first amendment problems, but is still a bad bill. We question the need for the legislation as well as the potential unintended consequences. The Sierra Club has long condemned violence, including that done in the name of protecting the environment. There are ample conditions under current law to prosecute those engaged in illegal conduct, however. We have strong laws against damaging property, trespass, arson and specifically damaging agricultural or lab facilities. They include 11-1023 Unauthorized release of animals; classification; damages, 17-316 Interference with rights of hunters; violation; classification, and 3-114 Liability for unauthorized destruction of field crop product; damages; definition, among others. WE OPPOSE IT.

SB1085 solid waste fees (Allen, Blendu Huffman) passed out of the House Environment Committee. It swipes half of the 25 cent per ton recycling tipping fee and diverts it to running the solid waste program at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). While we think that the ADEQ should get funding to run the program, an important public health function, diverting these dollars is a bad idea and bad public policy ­ the robbing Peter to pay Paul strategy. It is unlikely that these recycling dollars will ever revert to the intended programs where they fund city, county, and school district work to reduce waste, properly dispose of household hazardous waste, promote composting, and other issues that keep waste out of the landfills, thereby prolonging the life of the landfill and saving everyone money in the long haul. Educating the public about these issues also helps better protect our soil and water. WE OPPOSE THE BILL.

SB1306 will have a strike everything on storage tanks; underground. It is likely the resurrection of the Farnsworth bill, HB2677 underground storage tanks; insurance; repeal, which does away with the program over time (a good thing), but also bails out insurance companies and Bennett Oil Company (the senate president Ken Bennett owns this company).

Thanks again for all you do! To email senators go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp and for house members to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp#house. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml or call the House or Senate information desks. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislator's office toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 (Senate) or (602) 926-4221 (House). Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890. For more information on legislation go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/. To reach the Governor, call 602-542-4331 or toll free 1-800-253-0883. To email her, either click on this link or cut and paste it into your server http://www.governor.state.az.us/post/feedback.htm