Opinion: Sen. Steve Kaiser worked hard to address Arizona’s housing crisis. But his efforts died, thanks to stonewalling holdouts.
Abe Kwok
Arizona Republic
Two housing reform bills that died in the Arizona Legislature would have represented a welcome change to the status quo.
The demise of legislation to overhaul zoning rules is one of the bigger letdowns at the statehouse this session.
Sen. Steve Kaiser has done yeoman’s work the past couple of years in a bid to help ease the housing crisis — albeit with some ham-fisted proposals along the way.
The efforts have died multiple deaths, only to be resurrected, recrafted and renegotiated to build consensus.
But as is the case with the still-stalled efforts for a public vote on extending Maricopa County’s expiring transportation tax, not enough Republicans were willing to let consensus prevail.
Kaiser’s bills reportedly couldn’t muster the support of “a majority of the majority” in the House — an unwritten rule imposed this year by GOP leadership that means at least 16 of 31 Republicans need to sign off on legislation to advance it to a floor vote.
