Rebuffed by a House panel, a Globe lawmaker convinced a Senate committee Tuesday that Pinal County farmers should get $20 million more to help drill new wells to replace Colorado River water they will give up.
The 6-3 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee came after Republican Rep. David Cook argued that the farmers were promised the cash as part of the drought contingency plan enacted by lawmakers in late January.
He wasn’t the only one to make that claim. The promise was made during the drought plan negotiations, Dan Jones, an attorney for several irrigation districts, told lawmakers.
