Capitol Roundup: Photo radar ban takes a step toward the ballot
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Photo radar foes at the Capitol are again hoping to bypass Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto stamp and go straight to voters with a proposal to ban the traffic enforcement cameras.
State of play: The Senate Committee on Appropriations, Transportation and Technology on Tuesday approved a measure that would send a statewide ban to the November ballot.
- The proposal passed on a party-line vote with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposed.
- It now goes to the full Senate.
Zoom in: Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), who sponsored the proposal, said photo radar undermines due process and is driven more by revenue than public safety.
- "If the governor won't act, voters should," she said in a press statement.
The other side: Supporters of photo radar, like law enforcement agencies and cities, tout it for speeding and red-light running as an important public safety tool.
- Marshall Pimentel of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns told Axios that only a handful of municipalities use photo radar and argued that each community should decide for itself.
Reality check: Attempts to ban photo radar are an annual exercise at the Legislature that have fallen short.
- Hobbs vetoed bans in 2023 and 2025.
- A proposed ballot measure last year failed by two votes in the House, just days after the eventually vetoed bill passed out of the chamber.
The intrigue: Three House Democrats who voted in favor of the ban last year voted against the ballot referral, while two Republicans who supported the bill didn't cast votes on the ballot measure.
- Rep. Cesar Aguilar (D-Phoenix) told Axios he switched at the request of his caucus, which mostly opposed the proposal.
- He's undecided how he'll vote if it's revisited in House this year, but he emphasized he's "not a fan" of the cameras.
In other legislative action this week:
🥩 Arizona would become the first state to ban lab-grown meat under a proposal sponsored by Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Benson).
- The bill is scheduled to be heard in committee Monday.
☢️ A Senate committee gave preliminary approval to three bills aimed at protecting health care workers from radiation.
🛣️ Legislation to rename Loop 202 after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, sponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), passed out of a Senate committee.
🗳️ A proposed ballot measure sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) that would impose new restrictions on early voting was approved in a Senate committee.
💸 Legislative Republicans blasted Hobbs' budget proposal as "based on fantasy revenue."