On Saturday, June 16, the longer-than-necessary second regular session of the 56th Arizona legislature finally came to an end with a final agreement on the state budget.
This budget has been described by some as the “most fiscally conservative budget in over a decade.”
As usual when there is a divided government and a shortage of funds, it took a lot of belt tightening and compromise to reach a final agreement. The result was a budget that not many were happy with, but most accepted it as a necessary compromise.
Details regarding what was in the budget may be seen by clicking HERE
But, while the budget was the central issue, there was a flurry of other activity during the last few days of the session. Most notably, several water-related bills were sent to the governor. Here are the results:
Signed:
| SB1081 | exemption area; assured water supply |
| SB1181 | groundwater replenishment; member lands; areas |
| SB1242 | water conservation grant fund; purpose |
Vetoed:
| SB1172 | land division; water; transportation; turf |
| HB2017 | assured water supply; commingling |
| HB2020 | long-term storage; stormwater; rainwater; rules |
| HB2062 | assured water supply; certificate; model |
| HB2127 | assured water supply certificate; effluent |
The governor explained her vetoes of all these bills in one veto letter, which may be read HERE