Deal by Arizona lawmakers, Hobbs bans zero-emissions requirements

PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers and the governor gave up the right to try to force motorists away from carbon fuels as part of a deal to extend Maricopa County’s road tax.

A provision in the deal House Speaker Ben Toma said was negotiated with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs permanently precludes the state from restricting the use or sale of a vehicle “based on the vehicle’s energy source.’’

The wording goes further, also blocking local governments from imposing their own standards.

The net effect will be to bar Arizona from enacting legislation like California’s that requires all new cars sold in 2035 and beyond to be zero-emission vehicles. Those include battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel-cell electric vehicles.

Hobbs’ press aide, Christian Slater, would not comment about anything in the agreement.

But Toma said the statewide restriction is justified, as is tucking it into legislation billed as being about allowing Maricopa County voters to decide whether to extend a half-cent sales tax for transportation.

“At this point, we felt that was legitimate,’’ Toma, a Peoria Republican, told Capitol Media Services of adding it to the measure.

“Quite frankly, with all this talk about banning combustion engines or limiting combustion engines we are seeing in some of these other states, we felt that was the wrong policy for Arizona,’’ Toma said. “It was part of the negotiation. It’s in the bill.’’

Earlier this year, Gov. West Moore of Maryland announced identical regulation to California’s for his state. Similar plans are being considered in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Free-market argument

Toma said Republicans think deciding what people can drive is not the role of the state.

“We believe in the free market. Ultimately, people can buy electric vehicles,’’ Toma said, noting that there are a lot more options than a decade ago.

“If people want to buy electric vehicles for all the reasons they think they’re better, by all means, let them do that,’’ he said. “But we shouldn’t be banning the free market or limiting the free market in any way.’’

Senate President Warren Petersen, a Gilbert Republican, shares that viewpoint.

“Whether to drive an electric vehicle is a decision that should be made by our citizens, not the government,’’ he said.

As for Democrats, House Minority Leader Lupe Contreras said members of his party had little choice but to agree to go along.

He said Democrats had higher priority issues they wanted to ensure were included in the Maricopa County tax legislation. Contreras said those specifically included making sure there’s enough money in the plan to fund not just highways but also mass transit, which will get 37% of the estimated $20 billion raised over the levy’s 20-year life if voters approve.

“We had to get as many things as we could get that were positive for the majority of Arizona,’’ he said.

He also noted the political reality. “We’re in the minority,’’ said Contreras, an Avondale Democrat.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Changes to laws could be made in the future, he added, if Democrats take control of both the House and Senate, which they haven’t had since the 1960s.

What has happened in other states has not necessarily required legislative approval. Instead, these plans are being advanced by governors through executive action with support from local environmental regulators.

That is what happened in California, where the state’s Air Resources Board adopted rules last year requiring 35% of new 2026 cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions, increasing to 68% in 2030 until reaching the 100% level in 2035.

Sierra Club blasts the deal

Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr called the Arizona provision outrageous, especially now with what she said is evidence the extreme weather conditions are due to climate change which, in turn, is being driven in part by tailpipe emissions.

“And yet every step of the way, they either don’t act or, in this case, take action that actually gets in the way,’’ she said.

“It’s insane, it’s wrong,’’ Bahr continued. “And I don’t know why in the world the Governor’s Office or proponents relative to action on climate would agree to that kind of thing.’’

Toma brushed aside questions of whether the state should be doing more to deal with climate change and the effect it is having on residents and businesses.

“This is about transportation, fundamentally,’’ he said of the legislation. “This is not a debate about climate change.’’

But the speaker also questioned the effects of vehicle emissions.

“Historically, throughout the history of the planet, climate has changed,’’ Toma said. “So there’s that talking point.’’

Bahr said the ultimate answer for those who want to restrict the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles may have to come from Washington, D.C.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration proposed new greenhouse gas emission standards that would advance the sale of electric cars and trucks.

Unlike California, standards to be set by the Environmental Protection Agency would not spell out a specific goal for the percentage of zero-emission vehicles sold. Instead, each manufacturer would have to comply with overall emission standards, a move that should force them to produce — and get consumers to buy — sufficient electric vehicles to comply.

EPA officials estimated it would require between 54% and 60% of sales of vehicles in 2030 be zero-emission vehicles, rising to about two-thirds in 2032.

Bahr said the Arizona provision blocking state action on vehicle sales essentially amounts to lawmakers defaulting to the federal government to make such decisions.

“There seems to be no interest at the Arizona State Legislature in taking any kind of control of our future when it comes to climate change,’’ she said.