U.S. Senators Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema along with Congressman Paul Gosar are hoping to introduce a bill that would enable La Paz County to purchase 4,800 acres of land from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the purpose of renewable energy development.
The La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act will allow the county to build on its current solar energy project facilitated by McSally’s land conveyance bill which passed in 2019.
“In a county like La Paz with such a massive federal footprint, sometimes it takes a literal act of Congress to open up opportunities for economic development,” said McSally. “We did just that last year when we got the bipartisan La Paz County Land Conveyance Act passed into law so the county could move forward with plans to increase solar energy production. Our bill introduced today picks up where we left off by giving La Paz County officials greater control over land management decisions in their own community while creating new, high paying jobs for the county’s residents.”
“The La Paz County Land Conveyance Act of 2019, which was signed onto law last year, has already been a great success for La Paz County. The La Paz Solar Development and Job Creation Act will build on that success and ensure that Arizonans will have affordable energy and more job opportunities. This bipartisan bill empowers local government to make land management decisions that better their own communities, something I want to see more of. I thank Senator Sinema and Senator McSally for their partnership on this bill and I look forward to its eventual passage,” said Gosar.