In what can only be a good sign for Arizonans that their representatives are listening, Arizona State Representative Phil Lovas killed his day light savings bill. HB 2014 would have moved the state to Mountain Daylight Time.
“Last week I introduced House Bill 2014, which would have moved Arizona to Mountain Daylight Time. I did this after having conversations with some in the business community about the challenges of Arizona not changing time zones,” said Lovas in a statement released on Sunday.
“I have received many responses to the proposed bill, and while some have favored it, the majority of the feedback has been against the idea for various reasons. As an elected official I always listen to the voters. Lovas concluded, “Therefore, I have decided not to move the bill any further and asked the Speaker to hold the bill indefinitely, essentially killing it, so we can focus instead on the budget, public education, public safety and the many other serious issues currently facing our state.”
Today is the opening day of the 2015 Legislative Session.
The first bill considered, according to numerous sources, will be at the request of newly elected Governor Doug Ducey. The bill will get its “first read” in the Senate and be forwarded to the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
According to the Yellow Sheet, “the bill will go through rules, COW and then be substituted with the House version, which will be introduced by Montenegro. (Yarbrough will sponsor the Senate version.) “The governor asked for it,” and Biggs is “absolutely” willing to do get the measure to Ducey’s desk, the source said. Biggs has mentioned the plan to Dem leadership, and there’s no indication of a negative reaction, the source said.
The Yellow Sheet also reported last week that the “number of pre-filed bills this year is less than in all but one of the past five first sessions of new Legislatures.” As of Friday, “there were a total of only 91 pre-filed bills. The lowest period for first session early filing activity was in 2012-2013, when 83 were pre-filed. Prior to that, the least amount of pre-filing activity was in 2008-2009 – the 49th Legislature – when only 107 bills were pre-filed by the first day. Prior to this year, lawmakers averaged 130 bills filed before session starts over the previous five first regular sessions. The high was in the 2006-2007 pre-filing period, when 153 bills were submitted before session started for the 48th Legislature.”