Hobbs faces decision on housing bill

Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed her first bill of the session when she nixed controversial illegal immigration legislation. She now has a big decision to make on legislation aimed at alleviating Arizona's housing shortage.

🏠 A bill dubbed the "Arizona Starter Home Act" received final approval in the House and is on its way to Hobbs' desk.

• It would bar municipalities from forcing people to form homeowners associations or from mandating certain aesthetic features and amenities requiring HOA maintenance. It would force cities of more than 70,000 people to allow single-family homes on 1,500-square-foot lots.
• The bill has both bipartisan support and opposition and is opposed by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and numerous municipalities.
• Hobbs told reporters Thursday she hadn't decided whether to sign or veto it but wanted to see a package of proposals instead of piece-by-piece legislation "that is negotiated as a compromise that everyone can agree on that will get us to a solution."

🏘 In other housing legislation, the Senate passed bipartisan bills to require cities to allow more residential development on commercially zoned land, to permit accessory dwelling units on single-family lots, and to speed up the building permit application process for houses.

• The bills now go to the House.

🚫 After shattering the single-session veto record last year, Hobbs rejected her first bill of 2024, vetoing legislation to make illegal immigration a state crime.

💻 Hobbs signed legislation increasing city and county candidates' ability to collect signatures online to qualify for the ballot.

• It's the second bill Hobbs has signed this year.

🗳 Voters would get to decide whether state agencies should be barred from doing business with banks that discriminate against companies or people who are involved in the firearms industry under a proposed ballot measure House Republicans approved in committee.

• The measure, which doesn't require Hobbs' signature, requires a vote of the full House.

🐕 A bill to create a state registry for people convicted of abusing animals and to prohibit people from knowingly giving or selling animals to people on the list was defeated in the Senate.