Lawmakers consider plan to cut bus, light rail funding
The Arizona Legislature is considering a plan to allow Maricopa County to hold an election on a transportation tax, but only if it eliminates money to run buses and slows light-rail expansion to a crawl, while pouring most of the proceeds into freeways and roads.
No thank you, say local officials. They argue the legislation would derail mass transit operations in the Valley’s major cities at a time when it is proving an important driver of economic development.
Even if the county got the go-ahead to hold an election, it wouldn’t do so under the terms lawmakers are outlining, said Mesa Mayor John Giles.
That’s because the plan outlined in Senate Bill 1122 is a far cry from the priorities that local officials worked out in countless meetings over the past three years, Giles said.
The debate comes in the wake of then-Gov. Doug Ducey’s veto of a bill for a tax election last year that local officials favored. It authorized continuation of a half-cent sales tax for a mix of road, bus, Dial-a-Ride and light rail projects that voters approved as Proposition 400. It is due to expire in late 2025.
This year’s version of a Proposition 400 extension is vastly different. Sponsored by Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, it would eliminate any future regional funding for light rail, and allow tax revenue spent only for Dial-a-Ride services and new bus routes. It also would cut off the money needed to maintain existing bus service.
“The county would not call an election on this,” Giles said.
Already, Giles said, local officials are exploring other ways to put a tax extension that meets their goals before the
voters, while hoping they can change enough minds to return to the bill that fared well with lawmakers last year.
For Tempe Mayor Corey Woods, the ask is simple: Just extend the framework of Proposition 400, the half-cent tax extension that county voters approved in 2004.
“We need Prop. 400 E to get across the finish line,” Woods said, using the shorthand reference “E” for an extension of the 2004 measure. “I don’t want to be standing in front of my constituents talking about a cut in our bus operations.”
Failure to do anything to continue the transportation tax would affect not just transit: It also would result in big funding drop offs for numerous road projects, including continuation of State Route 24 in the far southeast Valley and State Route 30 on the west side.
Light rail skepticism from Republicans
A long-running suspicion of transit, particularly light rail, is guiding Farnsworth’s bill, which is set for a vote Monday morning.
Farnsworth, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Technology Committee, said he’s grateful Ducey vetoed the bill, a move that sent shock waves through city halls and transit offices.
“I don’t believe it was written in the best interest of the taxpayer.,” Farnsworth said recently about last year’s legislation.
He acknowledged there’s a lengthy wish list of transportation items — “fun things, nice things,” an oblique reference to rail and policies to cut air pollution — but said it’s important to focus on roads.
He acknowledges he did not consult with any of the local city and transit officials who carry out regional transportation plans, saying such “stakeholder” talks can lead to too much compromise.
Farnsworth plan: 95% of money to roads
Farnsworth’s legislation would direct almost all money raised by a tax extension to freeways and roads; only 5% would fund transit. The transit expenditures could go only for Dial-a-Ride services and new bus routes. Funding for light-rail operations is specifically forbidden.
The legislation has support from the Free Enterprise Club, which lobbies against what it views as excessive government spending, as well as many light-rail critics, including state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who has said the system has “absolutely failed.”
A Queen Creek Republican, Hoffman has suggested that it’s more cost efficient to pay for ride-share services for everyone who otherwise hops on a bus or train. That idea, however, is not in SB1122.
Transit officials note the irony of the debate happening as people filled up light-rail cars during the lead up to the Super Bowl. Rail lines were bustling on recent nights as people flocked to NFLrelated events, said Jessica MeffordMiller,
CEO of Valley Metro, the regional transit agency.
“It’s such a sharp contrast,” she said. “The Legislature only need look outside their door to see all the great things happening.”
Other roads to a tax election
The debate is far from over. It’s unclear how Farnsworth’s bill will fare with the full Legislature, nor with Gov. Katie Hobbs, if it even gets to her desk.
Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West, has Senate Bill 1505, which transportation officials favor. But it has not received a vote, and and Feb. 17 is the last day for most bills to get a hearing in the chamber of its origin to have any chance of advancing.
Likewise, Rep. Leezah Sun, D-Phoenix, introduced House Bill 2527, which is similar to Carroll’s legislation. However, it has not received a hearing.
Giles said talks are ongoing on how to work around the Legislature. Local officials are considering an initiative for the 2024 ballot that would repeal a law from 1999 that requires Maricopa County to get legislative OK to bring any kind of transportation tax to its voters.
Maricopa is the only county that needs such permission; all the other counties can go directly to their voters, as Pinal County did last fall.
“This is too important to not get done,” Giles said of continuing the existing regional transportation plan, even it takes mustering the money and support to launch a statewide campaign.
The 1999 law was sponsored by a lawmaker who saw little use for mass transit, saying buses are needed primarily for the disabled. Despite that limit, Maricopa County 20 years ago got the go-ahead from state lawmakers to hold the election that made Proposition 400 law.