Bob Christie
Capitol Media Services
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is directly negotiating with Republican lawmakers who control the Arizona Legislature to try to craft a deal to ask Maricopa County voters to extend a half-cent sales tax that for nearly 40 years has paid for new freeways, bus routes and light rail transportation projects.
And whether the efforts succeed will have implications for the rest of the state.
The bid to put Proposition 400 on the ballot has an uphill fight despite unanimous support for an updated plan from the 27 mayors, three tribes and two counties who sit on the Maricopa Association of Governments, the regional planning organization that oversees the transportation spending.
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That’s because powerful conservative groups like the Arizona Free Enterprise Club strongly oppose the plan submitted by the group known as MAG. A large number of Republican lawmakers have joined them, voicing opposition to not just the idea of financing public transportation but also provisions to improve air quality. And they have refused to approve it without major revisions.
Their major beef is with the amount of money that pays for public transit, including buses and light rail.
If the tax extension fails, either because the Legislature refuses to endorse a local election to extend it or a revamped plan crafted by lawmakers and signed by Hobbs is rejected by voters, it could upend new highway construction statewide. That’s because Maricopa County, home to nearly 2/3 of the state’s residents, would suddenly be without its dedicated transportation funding stream for its share of projects.
Potentially more significant, that means the county, whose residents have largely self-funded massive freeway expansion projects, paid for a regional bus system and built miles of new light rail over the past 40 years, now would suddenly be competing with the rest of the state for federal funding.
“If you’re Kingman, Arizona, or you’re the mayor of Yuma or you’re the mayor of Flagstaff, you don’t want Maricopa County competing with you for federal transportation dollars,” said Kenn Weise, the mayor of Avondale and the chair of MAG.
