Arizona League ofConservation Voters

SCORECARD2 0 0 1

w w w . a z l c v . o r gA r i z o n a C o n s e r v a t i o n V o t e rV o l u m e 1 0 , N u m b e r 1 S p r i n g 2 0 0 1

Dear Arizona Conservation Voter,

Why do we do a Scorecard?

Our state legislators make decisions that affect our children and future generations, that affectwildlife and wild places, that affect the air we breathe and the water we drink and the condi-tions under which we work and live.

This legislative session was most remarkable in what did not happen. Representative Steve May led an effortto repeal the Clean Elections Act and deplete the Clean Election Fund, but the will of the voters prevailed.Our air will not be much cleaner—in fact, title V facilities (the big ones) will be able to pollute our air foran additional year. Our water will not be cleaner, nor will there be funds to repair or restore our riparianareas. The Governor used her line item veto to eliminate funding for the Arizona Water Protection Fund,and the one water bill that did pass, HB2426, does little to protect Arizona’s surface waters.

Legislators did little to curb sprawl and manage growth. Even Senator Andy Nichols’ GrowthManagement Task Force died in the House. However, the Governor’s Office and state land manage-ment and natural resource agencies will not have veto power over the ability of cities, towns and coun-ties to develop and implement conservation plans to comply with federal law. Governor Hull’s office,the Game and Fish Department and the state Land Department pushed for amendments on HB2362and HB2524, which would have undercut local conservation efforts including the Sonoran DesertConservation Plan and Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Thanks to an all-out effort from theconservation community and hundreds of calls from you conservation voters, Senator Herb Guentherwithdrew the amendments.

Finally, the Legislature voted to not limit confidentiality agreements in settlements when the action wasfor injury, wrongful death, or financial loss caused by a defective product or environmental hazard.Need I say Firestone tires? Also, the Governor vetoed legislation that would have required the ArizonaEmergency Response Commission to allow electronic reporting of certain hazardous chemicals requiredunder the Emergency Right-to-Know law. This would have been a small step forward in providing saferconditions for workers, firefighters and the communities near these sites.

Thank you for all the phone calls you made and the support you have given this organization. It is mypleasure to work on your behalf to help make your conservation votes count.

Sincerely yours,

Stephanie C. SklarExecutive Director

Arizona League of Conservation Voters PO Box 40154 Tucson, AZ 85717Phone: (520) 622-2819 Fax: (520) 624-2577 azlcv@earthlink.net

FROM THE DIRECTOR

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PUBLIC REPORTING OFHAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

House Bill 2144This measure allows a person buying real property to getinformation from the Arizona Structural Pest ControlCommission regarding the dates, types and volumes of pesti-cides sprayed for termites on the property over the previousthree years. It also requires the commission to prepare guide-lines for integrated pest management, in an effort to keepsynthetic chemical use to a minimum. As introduced, the billwould have required sellers to disclose this information to allpotential buyers. It was weakened with amendments. Agrowing number of people in our chemical-soaked society arechemically sensitive and it is important for them, especially,to know what pesticides were used, and when, on a home orbusiness in which they will live or work. The bill clearedboth chambers and Republican Gov. Jane Hull signed it.

House Bill 2431It would have let companies storing or using hazardous chem-icals file electronically the reports of those chemicals and theiron-site volumes that are required under federal and state laws,primarily the U.S. Emergency Planning and CommunityRight-to-Know Act. This was expected not only to improvereporting and make the data more readily available to thepublic, but to significantly reduce the risk to emergencyworkers and the public in the event of an accident. The billappropriated $568,000 over two years to implement the pro-gram. It set fines of up to $1,000 a day, up to $5,000 total,for companies’ failure to report as required. It passed both legislative chambers, but Gov. Hull vetoed it.

WATER PROTECTION ANDCLEANUP

House Bill 2426The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality pro-moted this measure, designed to give the department

authority to regulate toxic and hazardous discharges to sur-face waters in Arizona under the federal Clean Water Act. Itcleared the Legislature and Gov. Hull signed it into law, butenvironmental groups will oppose any U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency efforts to turn the pollutant dischargeprogram over to the state under its terms. The measure for-bids the state from adopting rules more stringent than thoseof the EPA, regardless of unique local conditions. It defines“upset” conditions of a discharger and lets dischargers usesuch a claim as a legal defense against state law-enforcementefforts. It bars the state from charging fees to issue, modify,suspend or revoke discharge permits. The law orders courtsto consider “the economic impact of (a) penalty on the vio-lator” of the law. It lets dischargers ignore permit conditionsthey challenge in court during legal proceedings that canstretch into years. It sets no standards or requirements forthe state to consider endangered or threatened species inissuing discharge permits or enforcing permit terms.

AIR PROTECTION ANDCLEANUP

House Bill 2538This bill expands the metropolitan Phoenix area in whichvehicle emissions testing, air pollution monitoring andClean Air Act compliance are required. It provides $3 mil-lion over two years for a voluntary vehicle repair and retrofitprogram, which will help motorists whose vehicles fail emis-sions tests get them repaired. It gives the stateEnvironmental Quality department $400,000 for a roadsidediesel testing program of visibly smoky vehicles in thePhoenix and Tucson areas. The department gets $750,000to create a visibility index, $3 million for alternative fuel sta-tions (primarily natural gas) and $13 million to help convertdiesel-burning engines to cleaner-burning fuels. On thedownside, it appropriates $600,000 for a program in whichpolluting industries can trade hazardous emissions creditswithout requiring overall pollutant reductions, withoutmeans to verify trades’ equality or accuracy, and without

ACTIONS USED FOR SCORING

4 Arizona League of Conservation Voters Score Card 2001

means to fine or otherwise penalize cheaters. This won leg-islative approval and the governor’s signature.

Senate Bill 1455When state and county environmental agencies found apower plant or other industrial facility emitting pollutantsto the air at concentrations in excess of applicable standards,they were to issue the violators orders of abatement withwhich the polluter had one year to reach compliance. Nowviolators have two years to keep polluting after they arecited. The state’s two largest utilities, Arizona Public ServiceCo. and Salt River Project, lobbied for this bill. Gov. Hullsigned the bill into law.

GROWTH MANAGEMENTAND LAND USES

House Bill 2556This measure was different in the House of Representatives(see below) than it was in the Senate after a strike-allamendment. In the Senate it called for creation of a 15-member Growth Management Task Force that includedenvironmentalists. It was to conduct public hearings andstudies on growth management issues as they relate toArizona and its cities, towns and counties. The late Sen.Andy Nichols of Tucson added an environmentalists-soughtamendment stating one task force member must representaffordable housing interests and one must represent educa-tion interests. It passed in the Senate, 17-13, but died with-out House action.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 1004The bill refers to state voters, again, a program in which thestate could trade its lands for other lands. Arizona votersfour times already have rejected similar "land-swap" propos-als, every time by a large margin. Under this plan state landcould be swapped for federal land if it is determined to bein the best interest of the state land trust for public schools,and the swap’s purpose is for open-space preservation. Whiledirect swaps for private land are not allowed, the federalgovernment has no such restriction and could act as a con-duit for private-land swaps for state land. The proposal lacks

specifics needed even to ensure all land going to the state ispreserved; under it, the state could trade for a thousandacres and preserve two while selling 998 acres for develop-ment. This will be on the November 2002 statewide ballot(Gov. Hull has no signature or veto power over referenda).

Senate Bill 1389This bill was to set up a 13-member Arizona AgriculturalHeritage Commission that would solicit gifts, grants anddonations for a fund it would control. The commission,whose members would have been appointees of the gover-nor, Senate president and House speaker, would have allot-ted fund money to non-profit organizations or to cities,towns or counties. The recipients could have used the fundmoney to pay ranchers and farmers for those business opera-tors’ “development rights.” In other words, ranchers andfarmers could continue to ranch and farm without restric-tion, but would be paid to give up their rights, for at least25 years, to sell their land for development in housing, orcommercial or industrial enterprises. Both the Senate andHouse approved this bill, but Gov. Hull vetoed it.

INFORMATION FOR PUBLICPROTECTION

Senate Bill 1530This bi-partisan measure would have limited the ability ofjudges and attorneys to keep personal injury, wrongful deathand financial loss lawsuit settlements confidential in caseswhere the damages were the result of defective products orenvironmental hazards. The most notorious recent exampleof the abuse this bill was trying to end was the defectiveFirestone tires case. The company knew about the tiredefects as early as 1996 and settled several lawsuits over theissue with confidentiality agreements. No one knows howmany more people died or were injured as a result of defec-tive Firestone tires before information about the problem’sexistence was leaked into the public domain in 2000. Thebill went to a vote in the Senate, which has 15 Democratsand 15 Republicans, and appeared to be deadlocked on theSenate floor at 15-15. Sen. Pete Rios, D-Hayden, switchedhis vote to “no,” to have the right to call it back for recon-sideration—an effort which failed. Republicans Scott

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Bundgaard of Glendale, John Verkamp of Flagstaff, TimothyBee of Tucson and Susan Gerard of Phoenix voted for thebill, but they were offset by Democrats Jay Blanchard ofGilbert, Jack Brown of St. Johns, Herb Guenther of Tacnaand Ruth Solomon of Tucson.

CITIZENS’ INITIATIVEPOWERS

House Bill 2420This bill would have made it harder for citizens to get initia-tives on city, town and county ballots in Arizona. Sincestatehood, initiative measures must get petitions with theirlanguage signed by a number of registered voters equal to 10percent of those voting in the last general election. This billwould have required the minimum number of petition sig-natures for city, town and county initiatives to equal 10 per-cent of registered voters, a much higher number. It passedthe Senate and House, but Gov. Hull vetoed it.

House Bill 2556The House passed this measure in its original form, whichwould have set up several barriers making it more difficultfor citizens to get statewide initiative measures on the ballot.It would have required initiative proponents to wait untilthe Secretary of State prepared an official title for each ini-tiative, which would have had to be on each petition, beforesignatures could be gathered. If more than one-third of peti-tion signatures were found invalid in any county, the offi-cials of citizen organizations promoting initiatives would beliable for the costs of examining the signatures. TheLegislative Council, made up solely of legislators, could havereviewed each proposed initiative and made changes itbelieved would clarify language and avoid conflicts withexisting laws. Initiative proponents in 2000 went to courtover grossly negative Legislative Council summaries of theirmeasures for election publicity pamphlets, in one case writ-ten by initiative foes. The House language was struck in itsentirety in the Senate, which inserted language for a GrowthManagement Task Force. The House got its revenge bykilling the Senate version.

Senate Bill 1330This bill was crafted to end the Legislative Council abusesof initiatives cited above, and to level the politics involved inballot summaries of initiatives. The Secretary of State nowsummarizes initiatives for ballots. The bill would have cre-ated a Citizen Ballot Measures Committee to write initiativesummaries for publicity pamphlets and ballots. The Houseand Senate majority-party leaders and House and Senateminority-party leaders each would name two members tothis committee. Lobbyists and political-committee memberswould not be eligible for appointment. This measure passedthe Senate 17-13, but House Judiciary Committee ChairRoberta Voss, R-Phoenix, killed it.

WILDLIFE PROTECTION

Rancher Sue Chilton Approved forGame and Fish CommissionGov. Hull nominated Sue Chilton, a partner in ChiltonRanch and Cattle Co. near Arivaca, to fill a vacancy on theArizona Game and Fish Commission. Environmentalistswere outraged and strove for Senate rejection of the appoint-ment. Chilton for years has been an outspoken critic of live-stock grazing restrictions and other government rules andrulings aimed at wildlife protection. Most of her ranch’s27,000-acre Montana grazing allotment is public land in theCoronado National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service reviewsthe allotment’s status every few years in a public process thatincludes seeking advice from the Game and FishDepartment that the commission oversees. Twice just in2000, Chilton and her husband sent letters to the commis-sion trying to influence its recommendations to the ForestService with regard to her grazing allotment. She clearly hasa significant financial conflict of interest in serving on thecommission. She also does not have the expertise in wildlifeand its conservation needs that is legally required to be qual-ified for a commission seat. The Senate confirmed Gov.Hull’s appointment of Chilton.

SIGNATU

6 Arizona League of Conservation Voters Score Card 2001

NAME HB2144 HB2420 HB2426 HB2431 HB2538 HB2556 SB1389 SB1455 SCR1004

Allen + + – + – – + – –Anderson nv – – + + – + – –Avelar + + + + + + + – –Binder nv – nv nv nv nv nv – nvBlendu + – – + – – + – –Brimhall – – – – – – + – –Brotherton + – + + – + + + –Burton Cahill + + + + + + + + +Camarot + – + + – – + + –Cannell + – – + nv + + – –Cardamone + + + + + nv + + +Carpenter nv – – + + – + + –Carruthers + – – + + – + – –Chase + – – + + nv + – –Cheuvront nv – + + + + + + +Clark + – – nv + + + + –Cooley – – – + + + + – –Farnsworth – – – – – – + – –Flake – – – – + nv + – –Foster – + + + + – + + +Giffords + + + + + + + + +Gleason + – – + – – + – –Graf – – – – – – nv – –Gray nv – – – – – + – –Gullett + – – + + – + – +Hanson + – – + + – + – –Hatch–Miller + – – + + – + – +Hershberger + – + + + – + – –Huffman + – – + + – + – –Huppenthal – – – + + – nv – –Jarrett – – – – + – + – –Johnson – – – – – – + – –

HOUSE VOTING TALLY

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NAME HB2144 HB2420 HB2426 HB2431 HB2538 HB2556 SB1389 SB1455 SCR1004

Knaperek nv – + + + – + – –Kraft + – – + + – + – –Landrum + + + + + + + – +Laughter – – – nv – + + nv –Leff + – – + – – + – –Lopez + + + + + + – + –Loredo + + + + + + + + nvLugo – – – + + + + – –Maiorana – – – + + + + – nvMarsh – – – + + – + – –May + – – nv nv – + – –McClure + – – + + – + – –Miranda + + – + + + nv – +Nelson nv – – + + – + – –Norris + nv + + + + + + +O’Halleran + – – + + – + – –Pearce – – – – – – + – –Pickens + + – + + + + + –Poelstra – – – + + – nv – –Robson – – – nv nv – + – –Sedillo + + + + + nv + – +Soltero + + – + + + + – –Somers + – – + + – + – –Tom + – + + + + + + –Tully – – – + – nv – – –Voss – – – + + – – + –Weason + + + + + + + + +Weiers nv – – – + – + – –

House Tally, cont.

8 Arizona League of Conservation Voters Score Card 2001

NAME HB2144 HB2420 HB2426 HB2431 HB2538 HB2556 SB1330 SB1389 SB1455

Aguirre + – – + + + + + –Arzberger + – – + + + + + –Bee + – – – – – – + –Bennett + – – – + – – + –Blanchard + + – + – + + + +Bowers + – – – + – – + –Brown + – – + + + + + –Bundgaard + + – – + – – + –Burns + + – – + – – + –Cirillo + – – + + – – + –Cummisky + + + + + + + + +Daniels nv nv nv – nv – – + nvGerard + – + nv + + – + –Gnant + – – – + – + + –Guenther + – – + + + + + –Hamilton + – – + + – – nv –Hartley + + + + + + + + +Hellon – – – + – – – + –Jackson + – – + + + + + +Lopez + + + + + + + nv +Martin + – – + + – – + –Mitchell + – + + + + + + +Nichols nv nv nv nv nv + + nv nvPetersen + – – + + – – + –Richardson + + + + + + + + +Rios + + + + + + + + +Smith + – – + – – – + –Solomon + + – + + + + + –Valadez + + + + + + + + +Verkamp + + + + – + + + –Yrun + – – + + nv nv + nv

*Pete Rios voted against an LCV-supported bill only so he could bring it back for reconsideration, which failed.

SENATE VOTING TALLY

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SB1530 SCR1004 Chilton

Aguirre + – –Arzberger + – –Bee + – –Bennett – – –Blanchard – – –Bowers – – –Brown – – –Bundgaard + – –Burns – – –Cirillo – – –Cummisky + + +Daniels – nv –Gerard + – nvGnant – – –Guenther – – –Hamilton – – –Hartley + + +Hellon – – –Jackson + – –Lopez + + –Martin – – –Mitchell + + +Nichols + nv +Petersen – – –Richardson + + +Rios –* + +Smith – – –Solomon – – +Valadez + + +Verkamp + + +Yrun nv nv nv

Senate Tally, cont.

I N M E M O R I U M

A TRIBUTE TO ANDY NICHOLS

T he environment and conservationists lostone of their best legislative friends near

the end of the 2001 session when Sen. AndyNichols died suddenly of a heart attack at hisdesk in the Senate on April 19. He was 64.

Andy, a Tucson Democrat and a medicaldoctor, was best known for his work on healthcare issues—particularly adding tens of thou-sands of Arizona’s working poor to the ArizonaHealth Care Cost Containment System. He usedthe initiative process, twice, to succeed.

But Andy also was a strong defender ofthe environment. He always scored near the topon annual Arizona League of ConservationVoters scorecards and had a 100 percent votingrecord on 2001 League bills and issues whenhis untimely death took him from us.

We have lost a man of wisdom, integrityand great compassion.

10 Arizona League of Conservation Voters Score Card 2001

TOP

Meg Burton Cahill, D-27 (Tempe): 100%Carmine Cardamone, D-11 (Tucson): 100%Gabrielle Giffords, D-13 (Tucson): 100%John Loredo, D-22 (Phoenix): 100%Debora Lynn Norris, D-11 (Sells): 100%Christine Weason, D-25 (Phoenix): 100%

Leah Landrum, D-23 (Phoenix): 89%Kenneth Cheuvront, D-25 (Phoenix): 87.5%James Sedillo, D-2 (Flagstaff): 87.5%Carlos Avelar, D-23 (Phoenix): 78%Kathi Foster, D-20 (Phoenix): 78%Linda Lopez, D-10 (Tucson): 78%Marion Pickens, D-14 (Tucson): 78%Albert Tom, D-3 (Chambers): 78%Richard Miranda, D-22 (Phoenix): 75%Bill Brotherton, D-20 (Phoenix): 67%Victor Soltero, D-10 (South Tucson): 67%Mark Clark, D-7 (Mammoth): 62.5%Carolyn Allen, R-28 (Scottsdale): 55.5%Henry Camarot, D-1 (Prescott): 55.5%Deb Gullett, R-18 (Phoenix): 55.5%Jeff Hatch-Miller, R-26 (Phoenix): 55.5%Peter Hershberger, R-12 (Tucson): 55.5%Robert Cannell, D-5 (Yuma): 50%Ted Carpenter, R-19 (Phoenix): 50%Cheryl Chase, D-7 (Kearny): 50%Laura Knaperek, R-27 (Tempe): 50%Mark Maiorana, D-8 (Patagonia): 50%

BOTTOM

James Carruthers, R-5 (Yuma): 44%Steve Huffman, R-12 (Tucson): 44%James Kraft, R-18 (Phoenix): 44%Bobby Lugo, D-8 (Bisbee): 44%Marian McClure, R-9 (Tucson): 44%Tom O’Halleran, R-2 (Sedona): 44%Carol Somers, R-13 (Tucson): 44%Mark Anderson, R-29 (Mesa): 37.5%Dean Cooley, R-21 (Mesa): 37.5%Philip Hanson, R-17 (Peoria): 37.5%John Nelson, R-17 (Glendale): 37.5%Robert Blendu, R-15 (Litchfield Park): 33%Lowell Gleason, R-15 (Sun City West): 33%Barbara Leff, R-24 (Paradise Valley): 33%Wes Marsh, R-28 (Scottsdale): 33%Roberta Voss, R-19 (Glendale): 33%Sylvia Laughter, D-3 (Kayenta): 28.5%Steve May, R-26 (Phoenix): 28.5%Jake Flake, R-4 (Snowflake): 25%John Huppenthal, R-6 (Chandler): 25%Edward Poelstra, R-14 (Tucson): 25%Jim Weiers, R-16 (Phoenix): 25%Marilyn Jarrett, R-21 (Mesa): 22%Robert Robson, R-6 (Chandler): 14%Linda Gray, R-16 (Phoenix): 12.5%Steve Tully, R-24 (Phoenix): 12.5%Debra Brimhall, R-4 (Pinedale): 11%Eddie Farnsworth, R-30 (Gilbert): 11%Karen Johnson, R-30 (Mesa): 11%Russell Pearce, R-29 (Mesa): 11%

Linda Binder, R-1 (Havasu City): 0%Randy Graf, R-9 (Green Valley): 0%

HOUSE RANKINGS

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TOP

Chris Cummisky, D-25 (Phoenix): 100%Mary Hartley, D-20 (Phoenix): 100%Andy Nichols, D-13 (Tucson): 100%*Elaine Richardson, D-11 (Tucson): 100%Pete Rios, D-7 (Hayden): 100%**Ramon Valadez, D-10 (Tucson): 100%

Harry Mitchell, D-27 (Tempe): 92%Joe Eddie Lopez, D-22 (Phoenix): 91%John Verkamp, R-2 (Flagstaff): 83%Jack Jackson, D-3 (Window Rock): 67%Ruth Solomon, D-14 (Tucson): 67%Virginia Yrun, D-13 (Tucson): 67%***Susan Gerard, R-18 (Phoenix): 60%Linda Aguirre, D-23 (Phoenix): 58%Marsha Arzberger, D-8 (Willcox): 58%Jay Blanchard, D-30 (Gilbert): 58%Jack Brown, D-4 (St. Johns): 50%Herb Guenther, D-5 (Tacna): 50%

BOTTOM

Scott Bundgaard, R-19 (Glendale): 42%Brenda Burns, R-17 (Glendale): 33%Edward Cirillo, R-15 (Sun City West): 33%Randall Gnant, R-28 (Scottsdale): 33%Dean Martin, R-24 (Phoenix): 33%David Petersen, R-29 (Mesa): 33%Darden Hamilton, R-16 (Glendale): 27%Timothy Bee, R-9 (Tucson): 25%Ken Bennett, R-1 (Prescott): 25%Russell Bowers, R-21 (Mesa): 25%Tom Smith, R-26 (Phoenix): 25%

Toni Hellon, R-12 (Tucson): 17%Lori Daniels, R-6 (Chandler): 17%

SENATE RANKINGS

*Andy Nichols died in office of a heart attack near the session’s end, on April 19.**Pete Rios voted against an LCV-supported bill only so he could bring it back for reconsideration, which failed.***The Pima County Board of Supervisors appointed Virginia Yrun to Nichols’ vacant seat.

HOUSE

Top Scorers (100%)Rep. Meg Burton Cahill, D-27Rep. Carmine Cardamone, D-11Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-13Rep. John Loredo, D-22Rep. Debora Lynn Norris, D-11Rep. Christine Weason, D-25

Bottom Scorers (0%)Rep. Linda Binder, R-1Rep. Randy Graf, R-9

SENATE

Top Scorers (100%)Sen. Chris Cummisky, D-25Sen. Mary Hartley, D-20Sen. Andy Nichols, D-13Sen. Elaine Richardson, D-11Sen. Pete Rios, D-7Sen. Ramon Valadez, D-10

Bottom Scorers (17%)Sen. Toni Hellon, R-12Sen. Lori Daniels, R-6

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