Capitol Roundup: Feel the need for speed on rural highways
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The 2026 legislative session is still weeks away, but the flood of early bills has begun — among them, a proposal to scrap most speed limits on rural highways.
State of play: Rep. Nick Kupper (R-Surprise) is pushing a bill that would let the Arizona Department of Transportation director eliminate daytime speed limits for non-commercial vehicles on highways outside urban areas.
🛣️ Zoom in: The Reasonable and Prudent Interstate Driving (RAPID) Act would apply only in areas with populations under 50,000.
- Speed limits in rural areas not tagged as "derestricted speed zones" would max out at 80 mph — five miles faster than what's allowed now.
- ADOT directors could revoke that designation based on safety risks and infrastructure deficiencies.
- The policy would begin with a one-year pilot on a segment of Interstate 8.
In other pre-session Capitol news:
🔫 Most firearms used in homicides could be destroyed following a conviction under a bill sponsored by Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills).
- A 2013 law bars the state, cities and counties from destroying seized firearms and requires that they be sold.
- Kavanagh sought to amend the law in response to Phoenix's planned sale of the gun used to murder police officer Nick Erfle in 2007, which his widow sued to block.
🎒 Another Kavanagh bill would let private school and homeschooled students using the voucher-style Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program to join public schools' athletics teams.
- The bill is similar to another that Kavanagh sponsored last session.
- Yes, but: Gov. Katie Hobbs is a fierce critic of the ESA program and is generally hostile to legislation that expands or strengthens it.
👀 The Correctional Oversight Office that lawmakers created last session would get a $1.5 million boost under bills sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) and Rep. Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake).
- The office lacked funding after its creation.
- Problems have gone unresolved in the prison system for years, the duo said in a press statement, and without funding the oversight intended by lawmakers exists only on paper.
What's next: The session begins on Jan. 12.