Chandler, lawmakers discuss 2026 state legislative priorities
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Chandler City Council member Matt Orlando, left, speaks as state Rep. Jeff Weninger, center, and Sen. J.D. Mesnard listen during a December 2024 meeting on state legislative topics. Housing, education funding and water figure to eat up much of the Legislature’s time and energy, though Orlando and Weninger each have ideas on a few other things the legislature could somewhat easily address.
When the Legislature picks up again in January, Chandler leaders and local representatives will bring new ideas for bills together along with resume some annual battles. But lawmakers and local leaders are hoping some proposals and problem-solving will make some headway.
Defining “middle housing” for the public is among the priorities the Arizona Legislature and local leaders might pursue in 2026.
An ordinance approved by the Chandler City Council by a 5-2 vote in November defines middle housing as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes. Councilmember Matt Orlando said he not only wants to see more such housing constructed, but also for the legislature to help get Chandlerites and other Arizonans into such housing more easily.
“More multifamily housing needs to be owned by the occupants,” Orlando said. “So we probably need more of those condos, townhomes, those sorts of things. And we need more ways for folks to get into that ownership.”
Orlando said he wants the Legislature to examine what he thinks might be “onerous warranty requirements,” even if those were put in place initially to protect buyers, as well as lowering other barriers for both first-time and returning-from-renting homebuyers.
“For first-time homebuyers, a lot boils down to affordability, especially in down payments or other up-front costs,” Orlando said. “Maybe there are tax breaks that could be implemented. I’m not sure of all the solution would entail. I need to be briefed on what’s possible here.”
One person who could end up briefing Orlando on middle housing or other topics could be one of his competitors in the 2026 Chandler mayor’s race, Jeff Weninger. The Legislative District 13 state representative met with the full council last December, ahead of the 2025 session, along with state Sen. J.D. Mesnard.
Weninger said he’s not planning to lead or sponsor any bills that target middle housing.
“I’ll see what comes up,” Weninger said. “Housing could become a sort of parcel-by-parcel thing.”
Water is another area of concern for the city, as officials have taken multiple step and invested as much as any Valley city in securing future supplies, Orlando said. But as some supplies become more scarce, it’s important state leaders find a united front and have the same mission and goals in mind.
Orlando said that’s particularly important with any discussions regarding Colorado River water and other interstate, federal and international negotiations.
“We can’t look disjointed, or some of the other Colorado River players will run over us,” Orlando said. “We’ve got to stay on the same page, all the time. And we need a long-term strategy that involves not only moving and storage and how to get water from A to B, but also, we need to be looking at renewable water sources, like desalination, on a large scale.”
Orlando said water policy is one area in which state lawmakers really need to “take off their partisan hats and work with the cities.”
Weninger said he isn’t one of the legislators who specialize in water and typically hasn’t led legislation on that front. But he did point out that because technology advances, Arizonans shouldn’t get stuck thinking of certain facilities or activities as always using specific amounts of water, as conservation tends to improve.
Data centers have become a water issue, Weninger acknowledged, though he wants to get the word out about how much less water data centers use with air-cooling replacing water-cooling, among other advances.
Weninger said he opposes an AI data center plan the Chandler City Council was set to vote on in December for the same reason he wants more structure statewide on data centers: location is important.
“I’m not opposed to data centers as a concept, and am not looking for a prohibition on them,” Weninger said. “But I would like to have places for them to go. We need to look at state trust land for opportunities, along with places not prime for other construction, i.e. land next to noisy places, prisons or the Palo Verde nuclear power plant.”
Weninger said all six Chandler City Council members, along with Mayor Kevin Hartke, have his contact information any time they want to discuss any active or potential legislation.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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