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Arizona committee advances bills to give Legislature more oversight of Arizona Commerce Authority
Summary
The House International Trade Committee gave 'due pass' recommendations to three bills (HB 2751, HB 2752, HB 2753) that would expand legislative oversight over the Arizona Commerce Authority's use of the Arizona Competes Fund, trade offices, and board composition; testimony from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club opposed continued funding for the Competes Fund.
The Arizona House Committee on International Trade voted to advance three bills intended to increase legislative oversight of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA).
Staff described the measures as follows: HB 2751 would subject the ACA CEO’s use of the Arizona Competes Fund to legislative appropriation and continue the Arizona Competes Fund indefinitely; HB 2752 would transfer authority over establishment and supervision of trade offices from the ACA board to legislative appropriation and require an annual report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee; and HB 2753 would add ex officio legislative chairs and (by amendment) ranking minority members to the ACA board.
Greg Blackie of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club testified in opposition to HB 2751, urging the committee to repeal the Competes Fund or impose stronger statutory guardrails. He cited Auditor General reports from 2016 and 2023 that he said flagged “serious concerns about lack of transparency, accountability, verification of data, and job projections.” “We see it as essentially a slush fund to hand out grants to private industry,” Blackie said, and asked members to vote no unless the fund’s governance and transparency were fixed.
Committee members debated oversight mechanics and funding. Representative Travers asked whether the bill creates an annual non‑lapsing appropriation of $500,000; committee staff and the sponsor indicated that legislative appropriation and non‑lapsing authority were intended and would be the mechanism for future funding decisions. Several members criticized the absence of ACA leadership at the hearing and said that the bills aim to provide a “seat at the table” for legislators.
Motions and votes: the committee returned HB 2751 with a ‘due pass’ recommendation (announced tally: 7 ayes, 1 nay, 1 present, 1 absent); it returned HB 2752 with a ‘due pass’ recommendation (9 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent); and it returned HB 2753 as amended with a ‘due pass’ recommendation (9 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present, 1 absent).
Sponsor and supporters said the bills were not intended to undermine the ACA’s work but to add legislative input on spending and trade‑office decisions. The committee adopted an Austin amendment to HB 2753 to add ranking minority‑party members as ex officio participants on the ACA board. The bills will move forward in the legislative process.
