GRIC gets behind drought plan as Shope makes assurances
by Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
The Gila River Indian Community will provide the promised 500,000 acre feet of water for the state’s drought contingency plan after being assured that legislation the tribe opposed is dead.
In a prepared statement, Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, told him in a meeting Friday that there is no way that HB 2476 will be resurrected this year. Lewis said that Shope’s guarantee is important, as he is the speaker pro-tem of the House of Representatives.
But Lewis also said that Shope told him that House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who crafted the measure the tribe found so offensive, did not intend to bring the issue up again this session.
