Arizona Senate approves bill limiting municipal regulation of a specific industry after debate on local control

The Arizona Senate passed Senate Bill 10-15 on third reading after a floor debate over municipal authority and environmental impacts.

Senate Bill 10-15, described on the floor as an act amending sections 9-500.42 and 11-269.22 of the Arizona Revised Statutes relating to local governments, passed by a roll-call vote of 17 ayes, 12 nays and 1 not voting. The secretary announced the vote and the bill was ordered transmitted to the House.

The bill’s supporters framed the measure as a targeted change to state law; opponents warned it creates a carve-out that would limit cities’ and towns’ ability to set fees, taxes or regulations for the affected industry. Senator Sundarasian, who explained her vote on the floor, said the measure creates “a specific carve out for an industry” and expressed concern about the industry’s energy and water demands. “We have a lot of significant concerns about what blockchain technologies require in terms of the mining involved, with, for example, cryptocurrency and other types of blockchains. There's a lot of significant energy and water use, and I think that it is therefore truly in the interests of these localities to be able to put to set fees and taxes as needed. So I vote no,” Sundarasian said.

Senator Sundarasian’s remarks were offered as a formal explanation of her negative vote; the roll-call result shows the measure nevertheless passed. The bill text as announced on the floor identifies two statutory sections to be amended; the specific language of the amendments was not read into the record during the portion of the transcript provided.

The action now moves to the Arizona House for further consideration. The Senate did not record a floor amendment to the measure during the session covered by the transcript.