House of Representatives

HB 2496

vehicles of historic value; registration

Sponsors: Representatives Cooley, Robson, Chase, Pearce et al

DPA S/E	Committee on Transportation
DPA	Caucus and COW
x	Third Read
	As Passed the House

HB 2496 exempts vehicles that are defined as “collectible vehicles” from emissions testing requirements, and at the option of the vehicle owner, may be permanently registered.

THE STRIKE-EVERYTHING AMENDMENT TO HB 2496 expands the State Transportation Board from 7 to 9 members, with one additional member from Maricopa County, and one additional member from Pima County. The powers and duties of the board are also expanded.

Current Status

HB 2496 passed the Transportation Committee with a strike-everything amendment that expands the State Transportation Board to nine members. The new make-up of the Board is three members from Maricopa County and two members from Pima County. The remaining districts retain one member. The strike-everything was further amended to clarify that Board members appointed for a specific portion of Maricopa County who move to another portion vacate their seat on the Board. The strike everything amendment was adopted by the Committee of the Whole.

History

Current statute divides the State Transportation Board into six transportation districts with one Transportation Board member from each district, except for two from the Maricopa County district. Under current law, only two of the seven members of the State Transportation Board can reside in Maricopa County. Maricopa County contains 60 percent of the state’s total population. The following is a breakdown of the Board’s current membership by Transportation District:

2 members representing District 1 (Maricopa County)

1 member representing District 2 (Pima County)

1 member representing District 3 (Cochise, Greenlee and Santa Cruz counties)

1 member representing District 4 (Gila, Graham and Pinal counties)

1 member representing District 5 (Apache, Coconino and Navajo counties)

1 member representing District 6 (La Paz, Mohave, Yavapai and Yuma counties)

“Major Recommendation Six” of the Governor’s Vision 21 Task Force on Transportation calls for expanding the State Transportation Board membership from seven to nine members. In addition, Recommendation Six states that the Governor should consider individuals with a wide variety of experience in transportation issues, be provided with separate staff to evaluate Arizona Department of Transportation plans, programs and performance measures, and develop and adopt a “Statewide Transportation Policy Statement.”

Provisions

· Adds two members to the board, an additional member from Maricopa County and an additional member from Pima County.

· Requires the Governor to consider individuals with relative experience in the transportation field when appointing members to the Board.

· Requires the Governor, when selecting Board members from Maricopa County, to choose one member from the western portion of the district, one member from the central portion of the district and one member from the eastern portion of the district.

· Eliminates the requirement that the Governor appoint a person from a different county in transportation districts with more than one county.

· States that if a member changes residence to another transportation district, or to another portion of the transportation district, the member’s office becomes vacant.

· Strikes language that required board to designate the district members with the shortest and next shortest periods of time remaining to serve to complete terms as chairman and vice chairman respectively.

· Stipulates that board shall elect a member to serve as chairperson and another to serve as vice chairperson.

· Specifies that person elected to serve as vice chairperson shall serve as chairperson the following year and that at least every third year the chairperson shall be a representative of Maricopa County. The vice-chairperson shall preside in the absence of the chairperson.

· Broadens the powers and duties of the board to include the ability to establish strict access control standards for all future, state highway development projects.

· Requires the Board to develop a state wide transportation policy statement in order to assure the development and maintenance of a comprehensive modally integrated and balanced statewide transportation system, which shall be updated every two years.

· States that subject to appropriated legislative funding the board may authorize the employment of professional and clerical personnel and that these staff will not be employees of the department.

· Permits board to spend monies on traffic control devices on state highways that are within 75 miles from the border between Arizona and Mexico.

· Makes technical and conforming changes

A Strike-Everything amendment will be offered to HB 2496 with the following provisions:

· Expands the State Transportation Board to nine members.

· States that the makeup of the Board is three members from Maricopa County and two members from Pima County, with the remaining districts retaining one member.

· States that Board members appointed for a specific portion of Maricopa County who move to another portion vacate their seat on the Board.

The Strike-Everything amendment was adopted in the Transportation Committee.

The Strike-Everything amendment was adopted by the Committee of the Whole.

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45th Legislature

Second Regular Session 2 April 6, 2002

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