Our 2012 Legislative Session: Predicted to be Short, but Still Significant
By Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers
Arizona Farm Bureau’s Government Relations team is preparing for a new legislative session at the State Capitol. 2012 is a presidential election year and all 90 of our state senators and representatives are up for re-election – considering many are running with new constituencies due to re-districting, we anticipate a short session.
Politically we are very engaged to defend what we have as we go about our agricultural enterprises. We also play offense (we are on both sides of the line of scrimmage), because we need licenses and permits to perform certain operations and move our commerce. What happens in government does not stay in government -- it spills over to our members every day.
It’s the economy! How many times have we heard that in recent years, but it remains the 800-pound gorilla, With that the major concerns will be about jobs (what can the state do or not do) and the budget. From a technical, point in time perspective we are running surpluses, but from a balance sheet perspective, we are still in a hole. The new sales tax will expire without action -- if you remember it was “temporary.”
There will be discussions revolving around the tax code as well as efforts on the property tax codes. With respect to the latter, there has been considerable tension between some county assessors and property tax owners, which can be alleviated through clarifying legislation as to what information assessors are entitled to have.
Fees and license costs will return to the table from State Land, Agriculture, Water Resources and DEQ.
There will be several bills dealing with forest health and what the state can do, and then what changes can the state urge upon the federal government -- the status quo is unacceptable.
Other issues will deal with rotenone, food safety, in stream flows, metal theft and course adjustments on implements of husbandry and pesticide buffer zones.
We shall see how all of this shakes out in a “short” session, but expect us to call upon your voices, if not your actual testimony in the early months of 2012.
