Fresh of a 50-8 vote in the House, HB2543 has moved on to the Senate where it has been assigned to the Transportation & Technology and Appropriations committees. It is scheduled to be heard on Monday at 2:00 by the Transportation & Technology Committee.

HB2543 is the list of projects from across Greater Arizona that have been proposed, vetted and prioritized by the local governments through their regional transportation planning organizations and compiled into this legislation which seeks appropriations for the top projects from each region. The list of projects is attached.

Please contact the committee members prior to Monday afternoon's vote:

SENATE TRANSPORTATION & TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

Senator David Farnsworth (Chair) dfarnsworth@azleg.gov (602) 926-3387

Senator Frank Carroll (Vice-Chair) fcarroll@azleg.gov (602) 926-3249

Senator Rosanna Gabaldon rgabaldon@azleg.gov (602) 926-3424

Senator Theresa Hatathlie thatathlie@azleg.gov (602) 926-5160

Senator Jake Hoffman jake.hoffman@azleg.gov (602) 926-3292

Senator Anthony Kern akern@azleg.gov (602) 926-3497

Senator Christine Marsh cmarsh@azleg.gov (602) 926-3184

Once successful in Transportation & Technology, the bill is expected to be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee, likely on April 4th. Those members are:

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Senator John Kavanagh (Chair) jkavanagh@azleg.gov (602) 926-5170

Senator Jake Hoffman (Vice-Chair) jake.hoffman@azleg.gov (602) 926-3292

Senator Lela Alston lalston@azleg.gov (602) 926-5829

Senator Ken Bennett kbennett@azleg.gov (602) 926-5874

Senator Eva Diaz eva.diaz@azleg.gov (602) 926-3473

Senator David Farnsworth dfarnsworth@azleg.gov (602) 926-3387

Senator Brian Fernandez bfernandez@azleg.gov (602) 926-3098

Senator Anthony Kern akern@azleg.gov (602) 926-3497

Senator Sine Kerr skerr@azleg.gov (602) 926-5955

Senator Raquel Teran rteran@azleg.gov (602) 926-3308

Also, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed a "strike everything" amendment to SB1246 last week which would authorize Maricopa County to take to its voters an extension of the County's regional one-half cent transportation sales tax which is currently set to expire after 2024.

The region developed a plan last year which was backed by legislation but vetoed by Governor Ducey. There continues to be a wide gulf between that plan and many legislators this session particularly over the level of funding that would be authorized for public transportation and the ability to expand the region's light rail system.

While the public transportation portion continues to move upwards, now at 26% in SB1246, that percentage is still well short of the 40.4% status quo that better reflects the growing transit demands & needs of the region, particularly its inner core, as well as the transit resources needed to combat the region's non-attainment status for federal air quality standards.

An updated transportation bill matrix and an updated list of projects in HB2543 which now includes projects amended on to the bill are provided below.