While some legislators are working to keep California-style policies out of Arizona, corrupt municipal leaders in cities such as Phoenix and Tucson clearly haven’t gotten the memo. For years, these cities have subjected businesses to an unfair fee for their own shopping carts being stolen. Rather than targeting theft, homelessness, or law enforcement strategies, this policy shifts blame onto retailers, effectively punishing the victims. A classic California-esque idea infecting our Arizona cities.
Representative Nick Kupper introduced HB2460 this legislative session to combat this insanity and introduce some common sense. This bill prevents local governments from fining retailers over abandoned movable property, such as shopping carts and handheld baskets. Retailers already lose money from cart theft; charging them to reclaim their own stolen property is ridiculous.
This type of policy is the definition of “California-ing Arizona.” California has regulated abandoned shopping carts for decades, with state law dating back to 1992 authorizing cities to penalize retailers when carts are not retrieved from public spaces. Tucson and Phoenix are now following in those footsteps. Arizona law ARS 44-1799.33 already establishes procedures for dealing with abandoned shopping carts, including notice to the owner, impoundment, cost recovery, and eventual disposal if the cart is not retrieved, without automatically penalizing retailers.
Arizona should be a state that prioritizes accountability and property rights, but these cities seem intent on breaking that mold.
Tucson started back in 2013 when the city council approved an ordinance requiring retailers to retrieve abandoned shopping carts that end up off of their property. If they fail to pick up a cart within three days after notification, the city impounds it and charges the retailer a $30 retrieval fee. After 30 days, the fee is automatically added to the company’s water bill, and the cart is either sold or discarded. Retailers bear the burden after their property has already been stolen.
Phoenix has an even longer history of penalizing retailers through its Abandoned Shopping Cart Retrieval Program, first authorized as a pilot in 2005 and officially established in 2007. The program charges retailers a fee when city crews collect carts found off-site. Over the years, the fees have increased from $20 in 2007 to $50 by 2017, supposedly to “incentivize better management” of their property. Just this year, the city expanded its approach with a new ordinance requiring annual retailer certification, management plans, and higher penalties for non-compliance.
While Phoenix and Tucson have some of the longest histories with this bad policy, other Arizona cities including Avondale (2020), Glendale (2023), Maricopa (2022), and Peoria (2008) have adopted similar shopping cart ordinances. Whether through retrieval fees, regulatory requirements, or mandated anti-theft measures, the trend reflects a growing statewide shift toward placing increased responsibility on retailers for cart loss and abandonment.
Cities defend these policies by arguing that abandoned shopping carts impose public costs: blocked sidewalks, poor aesthetics, and cleanup time. Framing the policy as cost recovery rather than punishment, they claim retailers are best positioned to prevent loss through management systems or retrieval services.
During the committee hearing on HB2460, a representative of the City of Phoenix even argued that enforcing the law against thieves would be problematic because retailers would be prosecuting their customers. Last I checked, people who steal carts are not law-abiding citizens merely buying groceries, they’re criminals. In that same discussion, a Democrat lawmaker claimed that preventing cities from imposing these fines would be government overreach. It truly feels like we are living in an upside-down world.
But there is no good rationale for these ordinances. If theft is the problem, why not prioritize enforcement and deterrence? Shifting the burden onto retailers normalizes the crime and encourages continued bad behavior. Why would it ever stop if the guilty never face repercussions?
These unjust ordinances are the gateway to further punishment of the innocent while the guilty walk free. It starts with shopping carts, then Arizona will go full-blown California and allow squatters to take over homes and punish the rightful property owners.
HB2460 is necessary to protect retailers from being fined for retrieving their own stolen property. This shouldn’t even be a debate. In America, your property is yours, and those who steal it should face consequences, not the victims of the theft. That is justice. The bill passed the Arizona House in late February on a party-line vote and now heads to the Senate. We encourage the Senate and the governor to move quickly to pass and sign the measure to reaffirm basic property rights and ensure businesses are not punished for crimes committed by others and reject the creeping wave of California-style policies before they take deeper root in our state.
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Arizona’s executive branch has been defined by dysfunction, delay, and confusion. And Katie Hobbs has led that chaos from the front. When it came to tax conformity, Arizona had a clear choice: conform to the federal tax code and provide relief to working-class Arizonans or refuse conformity and raise taxes at the exact moment families could least afford it.
Instead of choosing relief, or even choosing clarity, Katie Hobbs created a third option:
Complete and utter chaos.
The Hobbs Chaos Conformity Plan
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Republican lawmakers called on Hobbs to convene a special legislative session in December, well before tax season, to address tax conformity and provide certainty for Arizona taxpayers.
Hobbs refused.
Then, during her State of the State address, Hobbs demanded that lawmakers adopt her own conformity plan, a package that would result in a $200 million tax hike on Arizonans.
There was just one problem: not a single lawmaker—Democrat or Republican–had introduced her plan as an actual bill.
The Hobbs “plan” didn’t even exist.
Then the dysfunction within her administration spiraled out of control. The Arizona Department of Revenue, a state agency operated by Governor Hobbs, issued tax forms in January that didn’t match the conformity plan proposed by Governor Hobbs. In fact, the DOR forms are more closely aligned with what Republicans wanted that what Hobbs had asked for.
Hobbs can’t even get on the same page with her own office.
So, in an attempt to end the chaos and confusion being created by Hobbs, the GOP-led legislature passed HB 2785, a tax conformity package that aligned Arizona law with the tax forms issued by Hobbs’ Department of revenue.
What did Hobbs do? She Vetoed it.
A Completely Avoidable Tax Disaster
The result of this failed and chaotic leadership?
More than 1 million Arizonans may now be forced to refile their taxes and potentially pay hundreds of millions of dollars more.
1. Republicans offered solutions.
2. Republicans passed legislation.
3. Republicans tried to provide certainty.
Katie Hobbs blocked every single attempt.
Arizona Deserves Competent Leadership
Arizonans expect their Governor to solve problems, not create them. But Katie Hobbs has shown a pattern of doing exactly the opposite. This tax season fiasco isn’t just another policy disagreement. It’s proof of something far more serious: Katie Hobbs is simply not capable of governing effectively.
Arizona Taxpayers Should Be Furious
Arizonans should be absolutely outraged.
No family should ever be forced to file their taxes twice because their Governor failed to do her job. No small business should face new tax confusion because the Governor vetoed common-sense solutions. And no taxpayer should be asked to pay more simply because the Governor chose political games over responsible leadership.
Yet that is exactly what Katie Hobbs has done. Her incompetence has created a completely unnecessary tax crisis for Arizona families. That’s why Arizonans are speaking out and demanding accountability.
Learn the truth about Governor Hobbs’ failed leadership at:
Call Governor Hobbs
Arizona taxpayers deserve certainty, not chaos.
Call Governor Katie Hobbs’ office at (602) 542-4331
Tell her: Arizona taxpayers should not have to file their taxes twice because of her incompetence.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
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For Maricopa County motorists, high gasoline prices are no longer an occasional inconvenience but a recurring hit to their wallets.
The story is the same every year. Every summer as temperatures rise, prices at the pump jump as well, often by as much as fifty cents per gallon in Maricopa County. Yet these price fluctuations, as frustrating as they have been for drivers, may soon look mild compared to what’s coming.
Arizona’s Historic Fuel Problem Will Only Get Worse In the Future
Arizona’s chronically high gas prices have been driven by two key factors. The first is that Maricopa County is required to use a specialized “clean burning gasoline” (CBG) blend that only a handful of refineries from around the country can produce. Compounding this issue is that Arizona does not have any in-state refining capacity of our own, making us reliant on imported refined fuel from high-cost California.
These complications have made our state vulnerable to price shocks. In 2003, a major pipeline failure limited gasoline shipments into Arizona and caused immediate price spikes and shortages.
In 2022, while gas prices did increase throughout the nation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Maricopa County motorists were hit with significant price spikes, and consistently paid far above the national average. In 2023 and again in 2024, price volatility in Phoenix surged even when national averages stabilized.
And now this problem is only going to get worse, thanks to California’s foolish crusade against the fossil fuel industry. For years, our liberal neighbors to the west have adopted an endless barrage of new regulations and tax hikes that have strangled oil production in the state.
The chickens are now coming home to roost. The Phillips 66 refinery in the Los Angeles area has closed, processing its final barrel of crude oil at the end of 2025. After regulators imposed a record $82 million air-quality penalty on the Valero refinery in Benicia, Valero announced that it would close the facility. It’s last day of operation will be April of this year.
These rolling refinery closures are forcing California to rely increasingly on imported refined fuel from across the globe, including from the Caribbean and Asia. All of this is adding transportation costs, supply lag, and more volatility to the cost of fuel. And ironically, adding way more emissions than if California produced and refined the fuel themselves. The effect of both of these refineries closing some predict will cause California pump prices to escalate up to over $8 a gallon!
With California being a primary supplier to Arizona, their cost increases are our cost increases. And yet, Hobbs and her Democratic colleagues have largely ignored these structural cracks that are getting more critical every year.
Highs Prices Don’t Offend Hobbs
There have been solutions offered to address gas price volatility and our dependency on California fuel, yet Governor Hobbs has resisted or vetoed every meaningful effort to expand Arizona’s fuel flexibility. During the 2023 price spike, when Phoenix drivers were paying among the highest prices in the nation, lawmakers and industry urged her to quickly pursue an EPA waiver to expand supply options. Instead, she delayed, until all the extra costs had already been borne by drivers.
In 2024, Governor Hobbs sent a sternly-worded letter to Governor Gavin Newsom to express concern about the potential impact of California’s SB 950, legislation that imposed even more onerous oversight on refineries, warning that further pressure on California refiners could harm Arizona drivers. But predictably, this letter had absolutely no effect on the pain at the pump for Arizonans.
Governor Hobbs’ failure to address the crisis has spurred Republican lawmakers into action. Over the last two years, GOP leadership at the legislature has introduced several bills to reduce regulations and increase fuel capacity. This session alone three bills are moving that would provide relief at the pump:
HB2955 – creates a mechanism to temporarily broaden allowable fuel formulations during supply disruptions.
HB2145– allows additional state officials to petition the EPA for emergency waivers.
HB2014 – requires evaluation of alternative blends to expand Arizona’s supplier base.
By contrast, zero solutions have been offered up by Hobbs and the Democrats.
This inaction in the face of recurring price spikes in 2022, 2023, and 2024, provides little hope that Hobbs’ apathy will fade regarding even greater looming spikes for Arizonans in prospective years.
Arizonans Needs a Leader Who Cares About Affordable Gasoline
This is quickly becoming more than a seasonal annoyance. It’s an impending affordability crisis. High gasoline prices are a regressive tax that has cascading effects on the costs of groceries, construction, transportation, and every good delivered by truck. They hit working families hardest, especially commuters in Maricopa County who drive longer distances for employment. And will disproportionally harm suburban and ex-urban communities (like Queen Creek and Buckeye) whose economies of affordable homes only work with affordable gasoline.
Arizona’s fuel vulnerability is solvable. Too bad we have a Governor that doesn’t seem interested in doing anything to solve it.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
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It’s not an accident that the top issue talked about by politicians these days is affordability. Over the last 5 years the cost of pretty much everything has gone through the roof, largely caused by the trillions in reckless spending by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Washington.
Taming inflation must remain our top economic priority, and the good news is that Arizona Republicans are taking meaningful steps to bring costs down. After adopting a 2.5% flat income tax under Governor Doug Ducey in 2022, state lawmakers have fought to slash grocery taxes, residential rental taxes and eliminate regulations that are driving up the cost of energy and housing.
Yet while the Republican controlled legislature is doing everything it can to make sure hardworking taxpayers get to keep more of their hard-earned dollars, municipalities throughout Arizona are passing an avalanche of tax and fee increases that are costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
Last July, Phoenix enacted a half cent sales tax increase that will cost taxpayers an additional $250 Million. This came six months after Gilbert passed their own half-cent sales tax increase. Not wanting to be left out of the tax hike fun, both Surprise and the Town of Maricopa passed their own sales tax increases as well.
Though the sales tax increases have been bad, the utility rate increases may have been worse. Countless jurisdictions have passed utility rate hikes in the last two years, including Mesa, Goodyear, and Chandler. Perhaps the biggest offender has been the Town of Gilbert, where residents experienced sticker shock as water bills exploded, with rate hikes of 50% in 2024, 25% in 2025, and an additional 25% that will go into effect in April of 2026.
In defending these endless tax and fee increases, the excuses from the cities remain the same. Unexpected budget “shortfalls” and reckless cuts in shared revenue from the state are forcing cities to raise rates. Or so they say.
These excuses all fall apart upon closer examination.
Take Phoenix for example. Between FY23 and FY26, Phoenix’s budget grew by nearly $4 billion, reflecting significant expansion rather than fiscal contraction. During this same period, the city faced scrutiny over multimillion-dollar expenditures on private organizations such as Phoenix Pride Inc, Phoenix Film Foundation, and Mexican Baseball Fiesta LLC which clearly fall outside of core municipal priorities.
Looking ahead, between FY23 and FY29, Phoenix is expected to collect roughly $780 million more than its historical revenue trendline, while Tucson’s excess approaches $260 million. This largely suggests that spending decisions, not disappearing funds, are driving the pressure.
In Tucson, projects like Downtown Links ballooned from about $76 million to over $110 million, more than $34 million over budget and years behind schedule under the failed RTA plan, leaving taxpayers holding the bag to cover major cost overruns.
In FY2025, Glendale adopted a $1.48 billion budget, a 17% increase from the prior year. Within that growth, the city directed funds toward recreation and fitness amenities while revising hundreds of fees.
And while Gilbert has been raising its sales tax and doubling its water fees, they have prioritized discretionary amenities such as pickleball complexes, splash pads, and massive park expansions.
Across Arizona cities, taxpayer dollars are increasingly funneled into pet projects, beautification, and administrative growth. Over the past five years, municipal budgets statewide have grown by 32%, underscoring concerns about fiscal priorities.
Meanwhile, Urban Revenue Sharing has ballooned in recent years, contrary to the claims made by municipal lobbyists at the Capitol. After lawmakers increased their general fund distribution from 15% to 18%, municipalities are now receiving more than $1.4 billion from the state, which is hundreds of millions more than what they were projected to receive a few years ago. Research from the Common Sense Institute confirms that since 2020 Arizona cities have received over $7 billion in additional shared revenue from the state than originally anticipated, projected to surpass $11 billion by 2028.
It’s obvious that local governments don’t care about affordability or how the endless parade of tax and fee increases are harming Arizona families. The only question now is whether anything can be done to provide taxpayers with some relief.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has worked on several bills this session aimed at protecting taxpayers from excessive municipal tax, fee, and rate increases. HB4030 and HCR2052, both introduced by Representative Justin Olson, would impose a temporary four-year moratorium on new local cost hikes, placing a short-term check on escalating government burdens. The referral version (HCR2052) would provide voters the opportunity to decide the issue directly; should the bill face a veto from Governor Katie Hobbs. By halting these increases, the policy would create meaningful breathing room for Arizona families trying to manage rising expenses.
Unsurprisingly, many cities and towns have come out strongly against the moratorium, as it would curb their ability to continue raising taxes, fees, and rates. Numerous municipalities signed in opposition, including Phoenix, Prescott, Tucson, Apache Junction, Gilbert, and more than 20 others. Apparently, the idea of actually restraining spending and holding the line on costs is just too much for some local officials to handle.
Another bill, SB1745, introduced by Senator Jake Hoffman, establishes a structural guardrail on local transaction privilege tax increases, capping hikes at 2.5% per classification. Any proposal to exceed that cap would require voter approval, ensuring oversight. This only applies to municipalities with a population of 550,000 or more. AKA Arizona’s worst offenders, Phoenix and Tucson, that also happen to represent nearly a third of all residents in the state. The bill promotes transparency and accountability, giving taxpayers a clear voice before additional costs are imposed.
Looking at the facts, the answers are clear: state taxes have been cut year after year, and revenues continue to rise, even as cities claim shortfalls. Yet spending is outpacing windfalls, fueled by a growing appetite for nonmandatory projects. Localities aren’t interested in fiscal restraint, only in endless taxation.
That’s why the legislature must put HB4030 and SB1745 on Katie Hobbs’ desk, to protect local affordability for taxpayers. Should she stand in the way of urgently needed relief from relentless municipal increases, HCR2052 will put the decision in the hands of Arizona voters.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
It feels like just about everywhere you turn, politicians are inventing new ways to yank more money out of your wallet. There are property taxes, gas taxes, grocery taxes, and more. We’ve even seen cities and towns push their own tax, utility rate, and “fee” increases. (How are those water bills treating you, Gilbert?) And now, some states—like California and Massachusetts—are pursuing a tax that would charge you a fee for every single mile you travel in your vehicle.
So much for affordability.
Earlier this month, California’s legislature advanced AB 1421. If passed and signed by Governor Newsom, this bill would create a “road user charge” pay-per-mile system for our neighbors to the west. It also includes studying how to capture out-of-state vehicles as well in case you thought your trip to Disneyland couldn’t get any more expensive.
If you don’t think such a tax is possible, think again. Tracking, limiting, and taxing our vehicle miles traveled (VMT) has been a dream scenario for those pushing a radical environmental agenda for years. Tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Biden administration was a pilot program for a VMT tax.
San Diego also explored something similar, proposing a plan in 2021 that would have charged motorists 4 cents per mile to pay for expanded bus service and rail in the region. Liberal politicians gushed over the proposal and even liked the idea of charging extra to high income households or on large vehicles they deemed to be not “eco-friendly.” But the plan was eventually stopped thanks to resounding opposition from citizens.
Then, last year, Massachusetts pushed for their own VMT tax—all in an effort to “encourage people to drive less” in order to meet net zero emissions by 2050.
Attempts to track, restrict and tax our vehicle miles traveled has become a realistic threat, which is why voters here in Arizona need to block this crazy mileage tax before politicians and bureaucrats try to pass it here.
That’s why in 2025, Arizona lawmakers took a huge first step to protect motorists from a California-style VMT by passing the Freedom to Move Act. This proposed ballot measure will give Arizonans the opportunity to ban any VMT tax/fee and ban any rule to monitor or limit your miles without your consent. If passed in November, our state will be the FIRST in the nation to prohibit the government from taxing, tracking, or limiting our vehicle miles traveled.
VMT taxes are a real threat right now. They hit rural families and long-distance workers the hardest. They create a data and tracking system to bill you for your driving—which is a direct threat to your privacy. They punish you for any form of driving you need or want to do. And they take even more money out of your wallet at a time when affordability is a significant issue throughout our state and country.
It’s time for Arizona voters to ban this outrageous tax on hardworking families in our state. Otherwise, California’s Orwellian tax-per-mile/privacy nightmare will creep in here.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
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