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ARIZONA LEGISLATURE

Scottsdale lawmakers want more legislative oversight over emergency declarations

GOP push concerns Tempe Democrat

Posted 3/26/23

PHOENIX – A proposal from a Scottsdale legislator would require Arizona lawmakers to come back into session every 30 days for any governor’s emergency declaration to be continued.

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ARIZONA LEGISLATURE

Scottsdale lawmakers want more legislative oversight over emergency declarations

GOP push concerns Tempe Democrat

Posted

PHOENIX – A proposal from a Scottsdale legislator would require Arizona lawmakers to come back into session every 30 days for any governor’s emergency declaration to be continued.

Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, and other GOP proponents of HCR 2039 argue that the Legislature has a duty to review emergency declarations, which are most commonly issued after floods and wildfires.

"This bill will put the power to deal with these emergencies on a long-term basis back in the hands that it always should have been in the first place, the primary branch of government, the Legislature,'' Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, said during a House vote early this month.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which is one vote away from being sent to the 2024 ballot for voter approval, will have far-reaching effects on how the state oversees disaster declarations and potentially impact millions of dollars in federal funding. That's because it would require monthly legislative approval for any emergency declaration.

Now, there are 41 open state disaster declarations.

And each is dependent on having an emergency declaration in force, even if they are years old. Depending on how it is interpreted, the law could require a monthly legislative review of just a few of the current emergencies, including the border crisis declared by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2021 that remains in effect.

The proposal is rooted in the state of emergency called by Ducey early in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept the country. The ongoing emergency - it lasted nearly two years - incensed many Republicans who believe he overstepped his powers by restraining business and school operations for too long.

Last year, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed and Ducey signed a measure sharply limiting public health emergencies, although it did not take effect until he left office.

Any health emergency declared by new Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is now limited to 120 days. After that, the Legislature would need to approve an extension every 30 days.

Chaplik’s proposal tightens that period, and Democrats are not pleased.

They worried at a state Senate hearing on the voter referral last week that injecting partisan politics into the process that maintains declarations for decades-old items - like the statewide drought declaration that has been in force since 1999 - could hamstring the system.

"If this federal funding was dependent on us getting together every 30 days to argue over whether or not the drought is real and upends the whole practical approach to dealing with the drought, we're never going to actually get to the problem,'' Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, said. "We're just going to keep fighting about whether or not the problem exists.''

The new proposal, approved by the Senate government committee Wednesday on a party-line vote, covers all emergency declarations.

Of the 41 state declarations now in force, half are more than a decade old, according to the state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. Another 18 federal disasters remain open and would not be affected.

Whether the law covers all open state disasters or just those currently happening in the "incident period,'' like the drought and border crisis, is open to some interpretation.

The measure now goes to the full Senate. The House approved HCR 2039 along party lines earlier this month, so Senate approval is all that is needed to get it on the ballot. Hobbs has no say on referendums the Legislature sends to the ballot.