HB 2227
Initials JH Page 1 Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
HB 2227: bond; override; contributions; contracts; prohibition
Sponsor: Representative Hendrix, LD 14
Committee on Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections
Overview
Prohibits an entity, that makes certain contributions promoting the issuance of a bond or
passage of a budget override, from bidding on any subsequent contracts.
History
Municipalities, counties, school districts and other local governments may issue bonds to
finance the cost of certain capital projects like building schools and highways. A bond is a
debt security in which the purchaser acts as a money lender to the bond issuer in exchange
for regular interest payments. A municipality or county must submit the question of whether
to issue a bond to the qualified electors of that jurisdiction and disclose certain statutorily
required information such as the purpose and maximum amount of the proposed bonds. Upon
approval by the voters, bonds are repaid by the jurisdiction with interest using property tax
monies (A.R.S. §§ 9-524, 11-264.01, US SEC).
Budget overrides also require approval by the voters and are similarly funded by local
property taxes. While statute limits school district spending, upon approval by the qualified
electors a school district may increase their budget by up to 15 percent. State and local
governments are prohibited from using public resources to influence the outcome of bond and
budget override elections and can be held civilly liable in specified circumstances (A.R.S. §§
15-481, 16-192).
Provisions
1. Excludes entities that make contributions promoting the issuance of county or municipal
bonds or the passage of budget overrides from bidding on any resulting contracts. (Sec. 1,
2)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note