Hello all,

After taking a short hiatus from voting on bills on the Floor last week, the House has at least scheduled votes for tomorrow, including HB2543, the RTAC Greater Arizona regional transportation priority projects funding bill. The original project list and an amendment with additional projects are attached. Monday morning would be a good time to contact your House members and persuade them to vote for or reinforce their support for HB543. I'm attaching a House roster with their e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

I'm also attaching a current transportation bill matrix. It is a slightly thinner version as I have removed those bills that did not survive the first committee hearing deadline. I've made some exceptions so it's still fairly lengthy. The subjects of bills seeking funding could still make it into the budget even if their introduced bills have died, so, I have retained those bills to maintain a good picture of the projects, plans and programs that are potentially under budget consideration.

I have also retained the three transportation-related budget bills that were part of the "skinny" budget proposed by the Legislature and vetoed by the Governor last month. They are a good reference point for following the progress, or lack thereof, on the state budget.

I have removed the four bills that were introduced to authorize Maricopa County to take to their voters an extension of their regional transportation one-half cent sales tax. SB1122 was considered in the Senate Transportation & Technology Committee but failed to receive a "do pass" recommendation. Several alternative bills; SB1505, HB2527, and HB2633 failed to receive hearings. While none survived, the issue is prominent enough to receive consideration if a politically viable agreement can be reached on the details. To date, that continues to be problematic. Please continue to communicate with your legislators the importance of this revenue source as the loss of this funding would have severe impacts, not just regionally, but statewide and nationally. It would also place a strain on other transportation-dedicated revenues shared with the rest of the State. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks and please contact those legislators on HB2543!




Sincerely,
Kevin Adam,
Legislative Liaison
Rural Transportation Advocacy Council