Chandler lawmakers’ gas tax, sex offender bills await full House vote
Independent Newsmedia file/Jason W. Brooks
Two bills introduced by Chandler lawmakers, including Rep. Jeff Weninger, shown here at a December meeting, have been approved by committees and are awaiting full floor debates and votes in the House.
Two bills put forth by Chandler-area lawmakers haven’t moved to a full floor vote yet — though one has moved closer.
Rep. Julie Willoughby’s HB 2400 would suspend the state’s gas tax from May 1 to Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jeff Weninger is the sponsor of HB 2870. That’s a proposed addition to sex offender code that would make it illegal for sex offenders, classified as level 2 or level 3 by the state, who are on probation or community supervision, to live together in a home, with exceptions for family by blood or marriage and for adoption.
Willoughby’s bill was moved on by the House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee on Jan. 22 by a 6-4 margin, along party lines, moving it along for a House second reading.
Willoughby explained to voters, in a social media post, that the EPA mandates the use of a special blend of gas in the warmer months.
“Listening to your concerns, I have offered a bill that will place a holiday on the gas tax during the higher-priced gas blend months that the EPA has mandated we use from May to September,” Willoughby wrote.
Arizona’s Highway User Revenue Fund, HURF, draws from gas taxes and other fees and surcharges to fund road maintenance and other infrastructure and capital projects around the state.
Arizona drivers have been paying gas taxes since 1974. Arizona county boards and city and town councils frequently approve projects or new programs only made possible by HURF funding.
HB 2400 includes a new section that details distribution of anticipated funds to cities and counties.
Chandler City Council member O.D. Harris endorsed the idea. He regularly speaks at council meetings about the cost burdens on Arizona residents.
“Look at this common-sense effort,” Harris wrote about HB 2400 on his social media. “I posted about high fuel prices a long time ago. In other states, fuel is $1 or more cheaper (than Arizona).”
The list of official supporters of HB 2400 include East Valley realtor Matt Greer and Fountain Hills Vice Mayor Allen Skillicorn. The list of those officially in opposition is much longer and it includes the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, the cities of Mesa, Apache Junction, Maricopa and Bisbee, and the Associated General Contractors-Arizona Chapter.
The Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association is officially neutral on the bill.
Weninger’s bill was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee, bill, 6-3, mostly along party lines in a Feb. 4 vote. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, voted to advance it.
Weninger said an “alarming” situation was brought to his attention last summer when six registered offenders apparently moved into one south Chandler home, alarming neighbors.
“They were living there with no supervision, and in one of the largest master-planned communities in our city,” Weninger said when he spoke at the Feb. 4 hearing.
Weninger said he’s open to discussing amendments to the bill that would include other carve-outs for extremely unique circumstances.
He said his main goal is to make it so that courts and probation departments don’t have sole discretion in where to place offenders.
“This has gotten conflated with the sober-living home debate,” Weninger said. “I understand there are specially designated centers where sex offenders can live, and I realize these people need a place to live when they get out of prison, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to have this amount of unsupervised offenders in one place.”
Rep. Khyl Powell, R-Gilbert, was the lone Republican on the committee to vote against HB 2870. He said most sex offenders who would need to report and perhaps plan their residence carefully are level 2 or 3 offenders and are subject to various forms of monitoring.
“This bill seems driven by fear,” Powell said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety states that level 2 is “offenders with a moderate risk of re-offending,” and “level 3 is for sex offenders with a high risk of another sex crime,” as determined using a 19-point scale.
Kimberly Endean of Chandler read what she said was a statement from her husband. She said he reported, from his professional work, how powerful peer influences can be, especially among people struggling with compulsive and harmful behaviors.
“When multiple sex offenders live together, the risk of re-offense isn’t simply added —it multiplies,” Endean said. “Shared histories, shared experiences and shared contagion create an echo chamber that undermines interventions and increases the likelihood of re-offense.”
Another speaker said the concept of single sex offenders living in that Chandler neighborhood, or any other residential area, is neither new nor objectionable. It’s having six — possibly seven — living in a home together, which brings extra vehicle and even pedestrian visitor traffic.
Three speakers — a criminal defense attorney and two mothers of men who have had some success living in similar situations — spoke in opposition to HB 2870.
One mother, Barbara Jones, said the residential possibilities for offenders in the current housing market are already extremely limited.
“The recidivism rate is low,” Jones told the committee. “And those do commit crime, that tends to be new or different crimes — which can come out of the instability from being unhoused.”
Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA
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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