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Senate committee backs bill to allow referendums of municipal emergency measures
Summary
Senate Bill 16-57 would let voters place municipal emergency ordinances on the ballot as referendums; rural mayors told the committee the emergency clause has been abused to avoid voter challenges, while the League of Arizona Cities and Towns urged narrowing the proposal to preserve ability to act quickly in true emergencies.
The Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee advanced Senate Bill 16-57 on Feb. 17 after a heated hearing where former and current small-town mayors described local efforts they say were undercut by municipal use of emergency clauses to avoid referendum challenges.
Sponsor testimony and proponents — including Payson Mayor Steve Otto and former Payson Mayor Kenny Murphy — recounted recent local events they said demonstrated how the emergency clause was used to enact ordinances, sales taxes and repeal voter-approved measures without time for a referendum. Murphy cited examples in Tempe and Chandler and a local bond and sales-tax sequence in Payson that opponents said used the emergency clause to prevent referendum filings.
Tom Savage, representing the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, opposed the bill as currently drafted and urged the committee to work with municipal leaders to refine language. Savage and other municipal representatives warned the bill could sweep in true public-health or safety measures and create delays that would hamper local responses; he noted constitutionally required supermajority thresholds already apply to emergency local measures.
Supporters including Alan Skilcorn, a town councilman, said the public should retain the ability to challenge emergency declarations and reminded the committee that the state’s initiative and referendum powers date back to the territorial era.
Committee members debated constitutional and practical issues, including whether courts can remedy the claimed abuses and whether the proposed change would prevent cities from acting quickly in a true emergency. After public testimony, the committee voted to recommend SB 16-57 (4 ayes, 2 noes, 1 not voting). The sponsor said the bill preserves immediate emergency powers while restoring voters’ right to challenge nonpublic-health emergency uses of the emergency clause.
