Rebecca Timmer introduced this month’s speaker, Tami Ryall, Policy Advisor with Pinal County. Tami provided an overview of some of the bills passed this session at the Capitol that are key to Pinal County including non-transportation bills:
- SB1051 (nicknamed the Pinal County census adjustment bill) increases the population threshold to 500,000 persons for requirements regarding county rural planning areas, our transportation excise (“pothole tax”), and the Arizona long-term care system.
- HB2438 authorizes a county board of supervisors to participate in water reuse and recycling programs, including regional wastewater recharge projects and related infrastructure.
- HB2169 establishes new class 4 felony criminal offenses of possessing, trafficking, and importing child sex dolls, and expands the existing class 2 felony offense of sexual exploitation of a minor to include conduct involving child sex dolls that use the face, image or likeness of a real infant or minor under the age of 12.
Tami then discussed critical transportation bills, representing an unprecedented success in funding key infrastructure:
- $9.2M engineering and design of the “West Pinal Parkway” connector between Casa Grande and City of Maricopa
- $87.5 M next phase of SR 24
- $18 M SR 347 improvements
- $5 M I-10 Sunland Gin and Arica roads improvements
- $700,000 design of SR87 improvements at Arica and Shedd roads
- $89M I-10 widening
Tami reinforced the value of partnerships between the municipalities and Pinal County in identifying key projects for ear-marked federal funds. Examples included future Hunt Highway improvements in conjunction with the Town of Florence and she noted working with the Town of Queen Creek, and the cities of Coolidge, Eloy, and Maricopa on funding key regional infrastructure from the above list.
Upcoming discussions for the County will include the topic of a future 100% water reuse policy.
Pinal Partnership will take a summer break, so there will be no July PPGRC Meeting or Monthly Membership Breakfast Meeting in July.
The next PPGRC Meeting will be on August 28th. Our next Monthly Breakfast Meeting will be on August 18th. Topics and details will be forthcoming. Enjoy the summer break!
