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Sahuarita adopts 2026 legislative priorities emphasizing local control, housing and water
Summary
The council adopted a set of 2026 legislative priorities focused on protecting local control and revenue, streamlining annexation, workforce housing policy, transportation funding, and water sustainability; staff and the town's lobbyist outlined the scope and how the town will engage the Legislature.
The Town Council unanimously adopted the town's 2026 legislative priorities after a presentation by Management Analyst Luke Smith. The priorities align with the town's objectives to protect local control and revenue, support public safety and guide sustainable growth.
Key priorities outlined include: advocating for streamlining Arizona's municipal annexation process; collaborating on workforce-housing policy to support affordable housing while preserving local control; pursuing sustainable transportation funding through grants and partnerships; engaging on state-shared revenues and rental-tax replacement to protect municipal funding; and promoting commercial and industrial projects that align with community safety and resource sustainability.
Smith explained that the list is advisory and not rank-ordered; the town will monitor many other bills and rely on the town's contract lobbyist, Karen Cruz, to filter and escalate items for council action. Cruz said the state's legislative workload is large (roughly 1,800 bills introduced last year, with about 250 ultimately enacted) and emphasized the need to focus resources where the town can be effective.
Council members discussed priorities and volunteer roles for legislative engagement, and directed staff to forward the priorities to the town's lobbyist and the League for follow-up during the 2026 session.
