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Legislative Updates 2007Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #2 “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. January 12, 2007 Hello Conservation Friends! The session got off to a good start with the Governor’s State of the State address. She outlined several proposals dealing with conservation including establishing a growth cabinet where she directed them to develop a smart growth process that integrates land and water use planning and which directs discretionary state funding to communities that participate in the process. She also mentioned mass transit in her speech and issued an executive order to the Arizona Department of Transportation directing the agency to develop a list of options for mass transit, commuter rail and/or light rail. She issued an executive order on air quality that says leaf blowers and gasoline-powered mowers can no longer be used on state property in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties. This executive order also includes several additional provisions for requiring reductions in particulate emissions and emissions that contribute to ozone formation as related to state projects, including transportation projects. Some provisions include projects in Maricopa and Pima Counties. Some include Pinal County as well. To read this and other executive orders go to http://azgovernor.gov/media/ExecutiveOrders.asp All in all, the speech and the executive orders were an excellent start to the session and steps in the right direction. Now the real challenge will be to find ways to get the legislature to take action in a positive way on some of these issues. Please contact the Governor and thank her for taking these important steps to deal with growth, to promote mass transit, and to improve air quality. You can contact her at:
Coming up this week at the Legislature (agendas can change throughout the week, not all bills are listed): Monday, January 15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Tuesday, January 16 Senate Committee on Transportation at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 3 SB1049 appropriation; highway construction (Burns) appropriates $450,000,000 for expediting freeway construction from the Budget Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund). OPPOSE. Wednesday, January 17 House Environment Committee at 1:30 p.m. in House Hearing Room 5 Presentations by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Maricopa County Senate Natural Resources and Rural Affairs Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 109 Presentation by the State Land Department SB1033 mines department; research and investigation (Blendu) adds an additional responsibility to this department which is already a major cheerleader for the mines. It says one of the purposes of the agency is to conduct research to help mining and mineral industries with future development. Considering that copper prices continue to skyrocket, it seems like the mines should be able to fund their own research. OPPOSE. SB1077 water utility systems; valuation (Waring) reduces the property taxes for water utilities. NO POSITION. SB1083 waste tire disposal (Flake, O’Halleran, Brown, et al) extends the waste tire disposal program through 2017. This includes a fee on new tires to help pay for disposal of old tires. SUPPORT. Senate Finance Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1 SB1077 water utility systems; valuation (Waring) reduces the property taxes for water utilities. NO POSITION. Thursday, January 17 House Water and Agriculture Committee at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 1 Presentations - Groundwater Code and Assured and Adequate Water Supply by Herb Guenther Forest, Fire and Water: “It Matters What We Do” by Wally Covington, Northern Arizona University Current research in agriculture and energy by Eugene Sander, University of Arizona For more information on these bills go to http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the issues and to contact your legislators. Mark your calendar for February 6, 2007 at 8am for Progressive Lobby Day and for March 20 at 9am for Environmental Legislative Day. 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/.
Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |