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Legislative Updates 2006Sierra Club 2006 Legislative Update #3 January 27, 2006 Hi all! Thanks for making calls this past week. HB2129 passed without opposition and is up this week in its second committee. SCR1008, dealing with the single subject issue, passed out of the Senate Judiciary with the Democrats voting no and the Republicans voting yes. I want to remind you again to r.s.v.p. for Environmental Day at the Legislature which is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2005 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., 2nd Floor Conference Room, Executive Tower at the Capitol. We will need to know how many packets to make and how much food to order. Check out the Legislative Tracker at http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/ for more details on some of the bills below.
This week, please call members of the House Natural Resources Committee and ask them to support HB2509 heritage fund; encumbrances (Jones, A. Aguirre, Burns). It allows the Game and Fish Commission and the State Parks Board to encumber Heritage funds and use them for projects over more than one year. While this probably won’t stop the Legislature from trying to swipe these dollars, it does clarify the ability of the agencies to encumber them. Members of the Committee include: Representatives: O’Halleran (Chair) 926-4079, t'ohalleran@azleg.gov; J. Allen 926-3395, jallen@azleg.gov; Brown 926-4129, jbrown@azleg.gov; Chase 926-5030, cchase@azleg.gov; Jones 926-5273, rjones@azleg.gov; Kirkpatrick, 926-5160, akirkpatrick@azleg.gov; Mason 926-5874, lmason@azleg.gov; Nelson 926-5872, jnelson@azleg.gov; Sinema 926-5058, ksinema@azleg.gov; and Jerry Weiers 926-5894, jpweiers@azleg.gov. All numbers are (602). For 800 number, see the end of this alert.
Also, please call House Environment Committee members and ask them to support HB2291 chemical fire response; task force (Landrum Taylor: A. Aguirre, J. Allen, et al). It sets up this response task force and requires that it establish a hazardous material tracking process program for municipalities to identify buildings that use or have hazardous materials on site. It requires coordination of public health and risks associated with a chemical or other toxic fire event. Members include Representatives: Barnes, Chair, 926-5503 rbarnes@azleg.state.az.us ; M. Garcia 926-5830 mgarcia@azleg.state.az.us ; Huffman 926-3394 shuffman@azleg.state.az.us ; Landrum Taylor 926-5864 llandrum@azleg.state.az.us ; Pierce 926-3163 gpierce@azleg.state.az.us ; Reagan 926-5828 mreagan@azleg.state.az.us ; Robson 926-5549 brobson@azleg.state.az.us ; Rosati 926-5169 crosati@azleg.state.az.us ; and Sinema 926-5058 ksinema@azleg.state.az.us .
Coming up this week at the Legislature:
Monday, January 30
House Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 5 HB2483 land department; rural lands division (Chase: Anderson, Brown) creates a rural lands division at the state land department. This is unlikely to promote conservation. WATCH. HB2509 heritage fund; encumbrances (Jones, A. Aguirre, Burns) See above. SUPPORT.
Senate Committee on Judiciary at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1 SB1203 polling places; electioneering prohibited (Harper: Huppenthal) removes the requirement that polling places allow electioneering. This means polling places could allow electioneering selectively depending on what is on the ballot. Low budget campaigns need to be able to promote issues at the polling place. OPPOSE.
Wednesday, February 1
Senate Committee on Commerce & Economic Development at 9:00 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1 SB1221 structural pest control: licensure exemption (Leff: Harper) adds an exemption for people who apply herbicides that are not labeled for restricted use and that are commercially available to the public. WATCH. SB1388 structural pest control; regulation; exemptions (Leff) exempts utilities that apply pesticides from the licensing requirements if the application is immediately necessary for employees health and safety and for them to continue to do their work. I am not sure where this would be the case. WATCH.
Senate Natural Resources and Rural Affairs Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 109 SB1141 Sierra Vista irrigation nonexpansion area (Bee, Aguirre, Arzberger, et al) creates an irrigation nonexpansion area for Sierra Vista. This limits adding acreage for irrigation and would help a bit with the overdraft (too much ground water pumping) that threatens to destroy the San Pedro River. SUPPORT. SB1255 lot splits; fissures; recorded disclosure (Flake, Nelson, Nichols) requires that the lot affidavit of disclosure include a disclosure about land fissures. This is a good consumer protection measure. SUPPORT. SB1334 well drilling; time extension (Flake, Chase) allows the Department of Water Resources Director to extend the amount of time someone has to drill their well, per their permit. WATCH.
House Committee on Environment at 1:30 p.m. in HHR5 HB2036 stagnant water; pest control; notice (Barnes) authorizes local government to order property owners to remove stagnant water, requires notices for spraying for mosquitoes. This is a good bill and should help address the West Nile problems. Prevention — removing the stagnant water—is the most effective means of addressing mosquito issues. Spraying is ineffective and exposes us to more harmful chemicals. SUPPORT HB2291 chemical fire response; task force (Landrum Taylor: A. Aguirre, J. Allen, et al)See above SUPPORT. HB2521 small water systems; interim operators (Alvarez, J. Burns, Downing, et al) allows for grant assistance to interim operators of small water systems. This is an important public health issue. SUPPORT. HB2562 weights and measures; civil penalties (Anderson: Alvarez, Bradley, et al) allows for application of a maximum penalty if refiners or distributors violate the fuel quality standards. SUPPORT. HB2590 ethanol E85; motor fuel (Boone, Barnes) includes this and biodiesel in the list of alternative fuels. Ethanol takes a lot of energy to produce and the plants are big polluters. WATCH. HB2591 compressed natural gas; particulate program (Boone, Barnes) allows the emissions in lieu fees (scheduled to sunset) to be used for converting school buses to compressed natural gas, to install particulate traps or to buy school buses with particulate filters. Old dirty diesels contribute to health problems in children. SUPPORT.
Senate Committee on Government Accountability and Reform at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2 SB1209 public meetings; minutes; website (Johnson, Harper, Martin, et al) requires cities and towns with websites to post notices and minutes of public meetings on their websites. SUPPORT.
House Committee on Appropriations (P) at 1:30 p.m. in HHR1 HB2129 game and fish; enforcement; penalties (JP Weiers, Mason: Biggs, et al) provides higher penalties for poaching of wildlife. It includes a stronger penalty for taking “trophy animals” as defined in the bill. It allows for a five-year or permanent revocation of licenses for illegally taking trophy animals or endangered species. SUPPORT.
House Committee on Government Reform & Government Finance Accountability at 1:30 p.m. in HHR3 HB2475 electric generating facilities; coal; development (Konopnicki, Downing) says the Department of Commerce should develop policies and programs to encourage new electric facilities that use coal or coal gases. Do we really need policies to encourage more coal use? OPPOSE.
Thursday, February 2
House Committee on Judiciary at 8:30 a.m. in HHR4 HB2655 clean elections; complaints; standing (Murphy: Burges, Groe, et al) states that only candidates have standing to file complaints, requires investigation of both the person about whom the complaint has been made and the person who made it. It requires a timely finding relative to the complaint. WATCH.
Joint Committee on Appropriations at 3:30 p.m. in HHR1 Department of Environmental Quality Budget, Department of Water Resources Budget
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/ .
Sandy Bahr Back to 2006 Legislative Updates page Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |