(The Center Square) — Legislation to let Maricopa County voters decide whether a half-cent sales tax be extended is headed to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk for a likely signature.
Prop 400 is a half-cent sales tax used for transportation infrastructure funding in the county. It became a subject of weeks-long negotiation between Hobbs and legislative Republicans on items such as light rail funding. The proposition cost taxpayers $665 million in the 2022 fiscal year, according to the Maricopa Association of Government’s annual report.
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Queen Creek, touted that the deal with Hobbs does not contain the expansion of the light rail, better known as Valley Metro.
“Please read the bill. No light rail expansion,” he said.
However, one Democrat, Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, voted against the bill because she did not think it did enough in regard to supporting light rail efforts and environmental protections. The final vote tally in the Senate was 19-7.
The House approved the bill earlier in the day by 43-14, with some Republicans objecting due to the haste of the bill’s passage and the belief that it should be two ballot questions.
“I feel like we’re rushing it again,” Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, said. “I believe light rail would fail with the voters.”
Groups like the Arizona Free Enterprise Club opposed the bill over differences between the June version of the legislation, which Hobbs vetoed, and the current one.
“Compared to the Prop 400 Plan passed in June (SB1246), SB1102 rolls back many of the critical guardrails that would have prevented road diets, Vision Zero projects, and radical air quality ‘control measures,’” the group said in a statement.
Senate Republicans touted in a press release that the $24 billion plan allocates 40.5% of funding to “freeways & highways,” 37% for “transit,” 22.5% for “roads and intersections” and nothing toward “light rail expansion.”
Hobbs praised the Legislature in a statement after both chambers approved.
“Today, bipartisan leaders invested in the future of Arizona families, businesses, and communities. The passage of the Proposition 400 ballot measure will secure the economic future of our state and create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs for Arizonans,” she said. “These critical infrastructure investments will build and attract businesses and make Arizona the best place to live, work, and raise a family. I am glad we were able to put politics aside and do what is right for Arizona. Together, we will build an Arizona for everyone.”
Prop 400 first came about in the 1984 election, which voters extended in 2004.
