Pinal Partnership November Government Relations Committee meeting recap: PRTA & election updates
The Pinal Partnership Government Relations Committee, led by Co-Chairs Rebecca Timmer with Wilson & Company and Ben Bitter with the Town of Florence, hosted their monthly meeting on November 17, 2020, with the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee also included.
Our guest speaker was Dan Marum with Wilson & Company, who is serving as PRTA Interim General Manager. Dan provided an overview and update on the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority. Although Propositions 416 and 417 (including a ½-cent sales tax) were approved by voters in November 2017, legal challenges began the following month. After a successful defense of the tax at the Arizona Court of Appeals, oral arguments will now be heard in front of the Supreme Court on December 12, 2020; each side will have 20 minutes. We are hopeful there will be a final decision by Q1 2021.
The Plan for PRTA includes funding for 12 regional roadway projects, public transportation, local projects and administration. Projects will be completed in four phases over the next twenty years. 
Tax collection began in April 2018 with over $45M in revenue to date. Despite COVID-19, the revenue trend is positive.
Next steps include interagency coordination, planning and budgeting and intergovernmental agreements for projects. A full-time general manager is expected to be selected by the PRTA Board following resolution of the court hearing. The PRTA remains hopeful this is the last step to the process, and they can begin distributing revenue after that decision. Click here to view Dan’s presentation.
Ben gave an update on various election results that touched Pinal County; there was not a lot of change in the area at the state level. In Legislative District 11, we retained Republican leadership with Senator and Representative-Elect Frank Pratt, Representative and Senator-Elect T.J. Shope and Representative David Cook. Senator Pratt remains an active member of this committee, and we appreciate his regular involvement and valuable insight on what is happening at the Capitol.
At the state level, we will see 2 Democrats and a Republican join the Arizona Corporation Commission, making it a 3 Dem and 2 Rep commission. The Independent Redistricting Commission is beginning their charge soon, which is something to watch as it determines legislative and congressional districts within the state.
At the county level, we will have three new Supervisors which will make the entire board all from the same party, for the first time in forever (yes, it is ok to sing that line).
Locally, from the general election, we will have a new mayor in Apache Junction, Chip Wilson, new mayor in Eloy, former Vice-Chairman Micah Powell, new councilmember in Maricopa, Amber Lierman and two new councilmembers in Florence, Snake Neil and Johny Mendoza.
While there was not much change in elected offices throughout Pinal County, the committee is excited to work with all elected officials and we welcome each of the newly elected (and all incumbents!) to join us anytime! Click here to view all Pinal County election results.
Our next meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2020 via Zoom. Rebecca and Ben will host a committee member roundtable to spotlight each participating agency and business as well as a 2020 committee recap, one for the history books. Committee meetings are open to all members of Pinal Partnership. Please contact Melissa Johnson if you would like information to join the committee and/or join as a member of the Partnership.
