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Legislative OverviewOn Monday, January 12, the first regular session of Arizona's 52nd Legislature convened. Many mayors, council members and municipal staff attended the Opening Day ceremonies. In addition to the excitement and activity associated with welcoming legislators, Governor Doug Ducey delivered the annual State of the State Address, where he touted state fiscal responsibility and educational reform. You can find his speech here.The legislature held only a few committee hearings this week, most notably on the Governor's push to include a civics test as a high school graduation requirement. That bill, HB 2064, passed both chambers on Thursday and was signed by the Governor that night. Today the Governor reveals his budget. The League will provide information and analysis in the coming weeks as more details are made available. Session DeadlinesEvery session has deadlines pertaining to bill submissions and hearings. These are established by rule and are subject to change. This year, the schedule is as follows:January 2015 Monday, the 12th - First day of session Thursday, the 15th - House 7-bill Introduction Limit Begins (5 p.m.) February 2015 Monday, the 2nd - Senate Bill Introduction Deadline (5 p.m.) Monday, the 9th - House Bill Introduction Deadline (5 p.m.) Friday, the 20th - Last Day to hear bills in the chamber of origin March 2015 Friday, the 20th - Last Day to hear bills in the opposing chamber April 2015 Tuesday, the 21st - 100th Day of Session Monday Legislative CallThe League will continue to host a weekly conference call to report on the status and impact of various legislative bills in the 2015 session. The calls are scheduled for Monday mornings promptly at 10:00 a.m. Mayors, managers and other city or town staff who are interested in legislative activities are invited to participate. Call-in numbers and a brief agenda will be sent out prior to the calls. If you would like to receive the Monday agendas, please contact league@azleague.org and request to be added to the distribution list for the Monday teleconference. Note that due to the Monday holiday and the limited number of bills to discuss this early in the session, there will not be a call on January 19th.Legislative BulletinThe League will electronically distribute the Legislative Bulletin every Friday during the legislative session. The Bulletin serves as a way for the League to communicate to elected officials, staff and other interested parties about activities at the Legislature that are relevant to cities and towns. If you know of any municipal official or staff member that would like to subscribe to the Bulletin please have them send their name and email to league@azleague.org and request to be added to the Legislative Bulletin distribution list.This year will see the continuation of the preferred streamlined format introduced two years ago. The Bulletin will highlight only the top half-dozen or so topics and bills from each week. Other legislation that the League is actively tracking will still be monitored and updated; however, that information will be available on our Legislative Bill Monitoring page on the League website. The Bulletin will contain links to legislation that has been updated in our Legislative Bill Monitoring Section. We hope this will make it more convenient for you to keep up to date on the latest legislative activities, while still providing a resource for more detailed information. APS Legislative InternThe League is pleased to welcome Erin Gantman as its new legislative intern for the 2015 session. Erin's background is in customer service as well as assisting the California League of Cities in Southern California in the summer of 2014. Currently, Erin is in her last semester at Arizona State University and will be receiving her bachelor's degree in both Political Science and Communications. Erin plans to go to law school in the fall of 2015. Erin will be assisting the League's legislative staff for the duration of the spring 2015 semester. Her stipend is being paid by a grant from APS.Your VoiceThe 2015 edition of Your Voice at the Capitol, our listing of senators and representatives, is available here. Please use this document to find contact information for your delegation. Early communication with your legislative delegation is strongly recommended in order to establish a relationship with the legislators representing your city or town. Maintaining good communications provides your legislators with invaluable insight as to how proposed legislation may affect their communities.Additionally, you can contact our legislative division at (602) 258-5786 or email using the information below: Ryan Peters, Legislative Associate: rpeters@azleague.org Dale Wiebusch, Legislative Associate: dwiebusch@azleague.org |
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Legislative Bulletin is published by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Forward your comments or suggestions to league@azleague.org. |