(The Center Square) – The Arizona Senate president will visit the White House next week to discuss Environmental Protection Agency policies that he says are hurting the state and its businesses.
Sen. Warren Petersen, the Gilbert resident who leads the chamber’s Republican majority, said he will meet with Attorney General Pam Bondi and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. He plans to talk to Bondi about matters such as the illegal immigration that local law enforcement and communities are battling. Petersen will discuss Arizona’s gas prices and other topics with Zeldin.
“We can be good stewards of the environment, but we don’t have to do some of these crazy policies that they have,” Petersen told The Center Square Wednesday during an interview that covered topics ranging from border security to proof of citizenship for voter registration.
The costs posed by the EPA have long been on Petersen’s mind.
In 2024, Petersen and Republican House Speaker Ben Toma joined the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry in suing the Biden administration for an air quality rule that the plaintiffs warned would hurt small businesses and halt construction of infrastructure and manufacturing facilities.
Later that year, Petersen, Toma and the Arizona Trucking Association sued the Biden administration over what they said were costly electric-vehicle mandates that would threaten the state’s power supply.
In addition to meeting with Cabinet members, Petersen said he has been invited to a White House event that Republican President Donald Trump will attend.
“I’m not sure if I’ll get some one-on-one time with him,” he said.
Petersen also praised Trump’s speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress, where the president received jeers from Democratic lawmakers but cheers from the Republican majority.
“It’s so refreshing to hear someone in an executive position being decisive and serious about getting things done,” he said.
Already, Trump has decreased border crossings in Arizona’s Yuma County to a few illegal immigrants a day from 1,100, Petersen said. He noted that it was accomplished through better enforcement and without the passage of new federal laws.
Yuma Sector Border Patrol Chief Justin De La Torre reported there have been days recently where only six or seven illegal immigrants were arrested during a patrol of 126 miles of border.
To assist further with border security, the state Senate recently passed the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act, which requires local and state law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The legislation is now headed to a House committee, Petersen said Wednesday.
He added that the bill’s intention is to help Trump’s plans for deporting illegal immigrants who are dangerous criminals.
But the Senate president said he isn’t certain Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign it.
“She’s actually sent some signals that she doesn’t support it,” Petersen said. “Law enforcement supports the bill.”
The narrow Republican majorities in the Arizona Legislature don’t have enough votes to override the governor’s vetoes. Petersen said that it may be necessary to put the bill, known by its shorter name, the AZ ICE Act, on the ballot in 2026 as an initiative.
Republicans have successfully advanced their agendas in both chambers, Petersen said, noting that the two are starting to review each other’s bills.
So far this legislative session, only one bill has reached Hobbs’ desk, Petersen said.
The governor recently vetoed House Bill 2703, a Republican proposal for faster election results, saying the legislation restricted citizens’ freedom to vote.
“Her argument is false,” Petersen said Wednesday. “We added more polling places and two more days to vote. Instead of 27 days to vote, we did 29 days for early votes.”
Republicans are also looking at putting that bill on the ballot as an initiative in 2026.
On a related issue, Petersen said he and the Republican majority plan to go before the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the court’s three-judge panel that rejected a U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying Arizona can reject voter registration forms that don’t include proof of citizenship.
Petersen said he expects more success if the full Ninth Circuit court hears the case, but he added Republicans are willing to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if they can’t sway the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit.
Petersen said the case has many issues, including the fact that proof of citizenship by voters could be critical in a close presidential race. He added another major issue is that under Arizona’s rules, “you can’t do mail-in voting if you have not satisfied the citizenship requirement.”
It isn’t difficult to prove citizenship with either a driver’s license or a birth certificate that’s easy to obtain, Petersen said.
