Senate amends referendum bill amid objections that it targets Marana voters and data centers

The Senate considered House Bill 28-73, addressing local government referendum petitions, and adopted a technical Bullock floor amendment before recommending the bill 'do pass' as amended. Several senators said the bill, particularly as amended, appeared designed to limit the ability of Marana voters to carry a referendum on city council decisions about data centers.

Senator Bullock moved a technical and conforming Bullock floor amendment described on the floor as "technical and conforming changes" and the amendment was adopted without recorded dissent. After adoption, senators asked questions about where the amendment originated; Senator Bullock said "the stakeholders agreed to this." When asked which stakeholders, she declined further detail.

Opponents pressed that the bill’s timing, an emergency clause and retroactivity would specifically prevent a referendum in Marana from proceeding. "This bill is trying to allow that referendum, those signatures were provided for the voters to be withdrawn from going forward into a referendum," Senator Sundarish said, arguing the measure "silences the will of the voters of Marana." Several senators urged waiting for a pending court hearing scheduled for April 27, saying the Legislature should not moot cases before the courts.

The committee recommended the bill 'do pass' as amended and the body adopted the committee report. Senators recorded comments both for and against the measure on the floor; sponsors said stakeholders supported the timeline and technical fix, while critics said the bill was narrowly tailored to a single local dispute and unfair to voters.

Next steps: The committee reported the bill and the report was adopted on the floor; the bill will proceed to further consideration per legislative process.