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By Caitlin Sievers || Arizona Mirror
A heated debate over a proposed food truck regulation bill in the Arizona Senate last week shone light on stark differences in opinion between Republicans and Democrats in the legislature when it comes to conflicts of interest.
The debate on the Senate floor happened as lawmakers considered Republican Rep. Kevin Payne’s House Bill 2094, which would allow food trucks to operate in residential areas on private property — if they have permission — and would allow the trucks to ask cities for an exemption from a requirement that they must use a commissary to get rid of their gray water and grease.
Payne owns a food truck and could clearly benefit from the bill, but the rules governing the legislature say that he doesn’t have a conflict of interest.
Under the legislature’s conflict of interest rules, if more than 10 people would benefit from a new law, there is no conflict. And that means a lawmaker like Payne can sponsor a bill about food trucks and vote on it.
Democratic Sen. Raquel Terán, of Phoenix, strongly urged her fellow senators not to vote for the bill, pointing out that Payne owns food trucks and that he’s tried to pass similar food truck deregulation bills multiple times already since he came to the legislature in 2017.
Several cities in Arizona have different regulations for the trucks that they have worked out in negotiations with local food truck owners, Terán said.
Terán’s comments raised the hackles of some Republican senators.
The Arizona Legislature is made up of citizen lawmakers, and who better to write legislation that helps the economy than people directly involved in these industries, said Republican Sen. Janae Shamp, of Surprise.
She added that, as a nurse, she adds her professional knowledge to debates surrounding health care bills without issue.
Republican Sen. Anthony Kern, of Glendale, harshly criticized Terán for her comments.
“That’s a great talking point when you’re trying to snow the public,” Kern said. “But the reality is everyone here has a niche in society that they are an expert in. Shame on the left for trying to degrade a representative who is an expert in his field.”
And Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican from Queen Creek, chimed in that the only opposition to the bill during committee meetings came from a union that benefits from food truck commissary use, and that no food truck owners opposed it.
But Hoffman’s comments weren’t correct.
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