Legislative Updates 2005

Hi all! Soon we can all sigh with relief as it looks like the end of the legislative session — sine die — is near. I have not looked at the particulars of the budget that they passed early this morning, but it is pretty much guaranteed not to be anything exceptional from an environmental perspective. A key question is whether the Governor let them totally raid the Clean Air Fund and whether they are getting rid of the in lieu fee for emissions testing.

As you know, the Governor vetoed SB1067 appropriation; Zuni tribe water settlement (Flake, Bee, Blendu, et al), a measure which swiped $1.6 million from the Arizona Heritage Fund. She also vetoed SB1193 NOW: regulations; outdoor advertising remedies; definition (Martin). This measure attacks municipal billboard enforcement. If you have not thanked the Governor for vetoing these measures, please do so.

Unfortunately, not all the bills that Governor Napolitano vetoed have stayed dead. The forest bill came back with a vengeance as a strike everything amendment. It passed the House with 20 members voting no. Please thank all the House Democrats except Chase and Brown for their no votes. In the Senate, please thank Senators Brotherton, Cheuvront, Garcia, Giffords, Mitchell, and Soltero for opposing it. Unfortunately, the Governor’s office has indicated that they are okay with the bill. SB1283 is an irresponsible use of tax dollars and represents the same kind of policy that resulted in the alternative fuels fiasco several years ago. There has been no fiscal analysis of this bill or this proposed program. The strike everything amendment promotes various kinds of tax subsidies including transaction privilege tax, income tax, and property tax for the forest products industries. It also cuts the use tax in half for vehicles that are transporting forest products. The key problem with the bill is the tax subsidies are pretty wide open. Here are some of the weak qualifications for the subsidies:

Thirty percent of the product can be anything including old growth and large trees, plus 25% of the product can come from another state.

The 70% that must be “Qualifying Forest Products” includes “dead standing timber,” which means old snags that are important for wildlife can also be logged and subsidized by our tax dollars.

Post-fire logging, an activity that causes enormous ecological damage, also qualifies.

“Qualifying Forest Products” includes “other woody vegetation” — whatever that means.

Please call Governor Napolitano and request a veto on SB1283 and let her know that we think this bill is bad for Arizona’s forests and bad for Arizonans pocketbooks.

To reach the Governor, call 602-542-4331 or toll free 1-800-253-0883. Her fax number is 602-542-1381 and her address is 1700 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85007. To email her, either click on the following link or cut and paste it into your server http://www.governor.state.az.us/post/feedback.htm

LAST CHANCE TO CALL LEGISLATORS FOR THIS SESSION (MAYBE). PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES AND ASK THEM TO OPPOSE SB1166.

SB1166 NOW: animal and ecological terrorism (Verschoor) is another example of a bill that was vetoed, but that was resurrected through a strike everything amendment. The bill represents more of a political agenda rather than an attempt to solve any real problems. 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 of this nature, however. This bill is unnecessary. We have strong laws against damaging property, trespassing, and arson and even specifically against damaging agricultural or lab facilities.

Go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp for individual email addresses and phone numbers. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislators’ offices toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area you can also call (602) 926-3559 (Senate) or (602) 926-4221 (House).

Here are a few bill updates:

SB1380 NOW: solar energy (Martin) still awaits action in the Senate. It provides for residential and commercial tax credits for solar energy devices. There are limits on the credits. This helps open the door for more solar development in Arizona which would benefit public health and the economy and create more energy independence. SUPPORT.

SB1393 aggregate mined land reclamation act (Flake: Johnson, Soltero et al) will go to conference committee ­ probably on Monday. This bill establishes the mined land reclamation division at the mine inspector’s office and puts the reclamation for sand and gravel solely under the purview of the state mine inspector, a cheerleader for mining industry. This bill could make it impossible to enforce things like the fugitive dust ordinance if the sand and gravel companies are engaged in a “reclamation” activity. OPPOSE.

SB1455 NOW: DEQ; continuation (Flake) was signed by the Governor, so the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality will be around for another four years. SUPPORT.

On a slightly different note, please take the time to help the Mexican gray wolf recover in Arizona and New Mexico. In response to a private meeting with the livestock industry and other opponents of wolf recovery, called by Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a one-year moratorium on new releases of Mexican gray wolves and new restrictions on translocations. This will risk the genetic diversity of the wild population and will also virtually ensure that no wolves are released in New Mexico. In addition to that, there is a proposal on the table to make it easier to kill wolves that have had interactions with livestock.

Please ask the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project Adaptive Management Oversight Committee to put science and the welfare of the wolves above the politics and the anti-wolf sentiment of a few disgruntled ranchers. Ask them to reject these changes.

Comments on these documents may be submitted via email to the Mexican wolf reintroduction project (mexwolf@azgfd.gov) or via postal mail to: Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project, c/o Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attention: Terry B. Johnson, 2221 West Greenway Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85023. To view the documents, go to http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/uploads/mw_amoc_sops_8-9-13-15-18_and_proposed_moratorium_20050426.pdf Comments must be received by May 31 to be considered.

Thanks for your help and support! To email legislators go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to http://www.vote-smart.org (You will need your 9-digit zipcode.) or call the House or Senate information desks. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislators’ offices 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/ .