Arizona Legislature pauses until June 12 to work out transportation, housing issues

Arizona lawmakers are taking yet another break from the Capitol, this time until June 12, to buy time to work out high-stakes bills on transportation and housing and to accommodate various vacations in the coming month.

The four-week pause came after the House on Monday plowed through 90 bills, sending legislation to Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk that bans photo radar, restricts drag shows and bars teachers from calling students by the child's preferred pronoun.

They also approved some election bills but rejected others, creating a mixed result for changes that are envisioned for the 2024 presidential election.

This will be the Legislature's fourth break since January.

Proposition 400, housing up for negotiation

The month-long hiatus will be filled with behind-the-scenes talks on some of the most controversial bills of the session.

"This will give us time to negotiate some other issues, particularly Proposition 400," House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, said.

Proposition 400 is a proposal to allow Maricopa County to call a regional transportation tax election on a 20-year plan that would address freeways, major roads and transit. It has had a bumpy ride at the Legislature, where many GOP lawmakers have balked at the proposed amount of funding for transit, particularly light rail.

Unlike the other 14 counties, Maricopa County needs the Legislature's approval to hold a transportation election. Proponents, led by Valley mayors, are seeking continuation of a half-cent sales tax that will expire at the end of 2025. Their hope is to put the matter on the November 2024 ballot.

There are competing bills and amendments that would authorize such a vote. But there has been no agreement on a single proposal that would meet both the transit-limited desires of lawmakers and the insistence by Valley mayors and business leaders for robust transit funding, including for light rail expansion.

"Proposition 400 needs to happen," said Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, and chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

On Monday, the House approved Senate Bill 1131, which would abolish the rental tax in Arizona cities and towns. It's been viewed a potential tradeoff with mayors seeking their preferred version of the transportation tax.

Toma said the bill still needs final approval in the Senate, and suggested it will be awhile before that happens — a clear sign the rental tax and transportation issues are intertwined.

Lawmakers also plan to hammer out bills from Sen. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix, that seek to ease local zoning requirements to speed up housing construction. His proposals, SB 1161 and SB 1163, need House approval. A proposal from Toma, House Bill 2536, also tries to tackle the affordable housing crunch with similar relaxation of local design standards.

Vacations on deck for some

The work will continue while an unknown number of lawmakers will be away on vacations or other planned trips.

Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Maricopa and the House whip, said she tries to encourage lawmakers to schedule their time off for later in the summer. But there is no hard and fast rule to require that.

In fact, there is no formal end date for the legislative session, although it typically ends soon after a state budget is approved. The budget must be done by June 30, according to the state Constitution, and that obligation has already been met, leaving, at least theoretically, a wide-open end date for other legislative work.

The June 12 return date is flexible: lawmakers can be called back to the Capitol on 24-hour notice from the House speaker and the Senate president.

A crush of bills, with more vetoes likely

Many of the bills approved Monday are likely destined for the governor's well-worn veto stamp.

For subscribers: With 11 more vetoes, Gov. Hobbs sets Arizona record for rejecting proposals from Legislature

Bills that require a separate bathroom for transgender students, and that require teachers to address a student using the pronoun that matches the sex the student was assigned at birth, were passed on strict party lines, with Republicans only in support.

Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, R-Peoria, and chairwoman of the House Education Committee, called SB 1040 an attempt to accommodate all students.

“This bill is necessary because some school districts, such as Peoria Unified, can’t come up with a common-sense bathroom policy," she said.

She acknowledged a likely veto, which, Pingerelli said, probably would prompt parents to withdraw their daughters from the district so they would not have to share a bathroom with someone who was born male.

Rep. Jennifer Longdon, D-Phoenix, said the bill "otherizes and dehumanizes" students and could alienate them, even to the point of self-harm.

"There should be basic dignity with being able to use a restroom, of all things," Longdon said.

A bill that would have allowed students attending small private schools to try out for public school sports teams fell one vote shy of passage.

Cook was key to its failure, as was his "no" vote on a number of bills sponsored by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek. Hoffman's bills dealing with election procedures, transportation planning and tweaking an existing law that bans explicit images in state materials all failed with Cook who joined with Democrats to vote "no."

"Sen. Hoffman and I have a serious disagreement on a lot of policy issues," Cook said, adding that compromise is the way forward on most successful legislation.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Legislature breaks till June with high-stakes bills still on table