"Tamale bill" sequel goes to Hobbs a year after veto
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A bill that led to one of last year's most contentious vetoes is back on Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk, and the prospects look much better for Arizonans who sell homemade tamales.
🫔 A sequel to 2023's "tamale bill" received final approval from the Senate Tuesday. Hobbs had previously indicated that she'd sign this year's legislation to legalize the sale of perishable homemade "cottage foods."
- Hobbs vetoed a similar bill last year, and supporters couldn't muster enough Democratic votes for an override.
- The 2024 bill passed the House unanimously but received only one Democratic vote in the Senate.
- Among the changes is a new definition of "home kitchen," designed to bar large commercial operations from using the law to skirt regulations on restaurants.
🚰 Hobbs signed a bill sponsored by Rep. Gail Griffin (R-Hereford) to extend the amount of time property owners in the Douglas area have to assert grandfathered water rights that are subject to new groundwater usage restrictions.
- Meanwhile, the Senate gave final approval to a bill, also sponsored by Griffin, that would allow property owners in regulated areas to challenge state groundwater restrictions.
- The bill is intended to allow people to contest state groundwater analyses such as the one issued last year that triggered new restrictions on homebuilding in Buckeye and Queen Creek.
💰 The Arizona Commerce Authority would get a new lease on life under a new proposal to extend the agency's lifespan, which expires July 1, for another five years.
- Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) blocked a similar bill in a committee he chairs and introduced his own proposal to abolish the agency.
- Yes, but: ACA supporters are attempting an end-run around Hoffman with a new proposal that passed the House Appropriations Committee this week.
👀 A GOP proposal for Arizona to conduct its own census every 10 years that counts only U.S. citizens is one full Senate vote away from going to the November ballot after Republicans approved it in committee Tuesday.
- If voters approve the plan, legislative redistricting would be based on the number of citizens, not overall population, which Democrats say would guarantee Republican majorities for decades.
🤺 As Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes investigates fake electors from 2020 and prosecutes Cochise County supervisors for alleged election law violations in 2022, Republican House Speaker Ben Toma created a committee to investigate her for what they deem the "weaponization" of her office.