HB 2273
Initials CW Page 1 Natural Resources, Energy & Water
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
HB 2273: lottery; on-farm irrigation efficiency fund
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19
Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water
Overview
Deposits $50,000,000 into the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Fund (Fund) from the State
Lottery Fund in FYs 2026 and 2027.
History
Laws 2022, Chapter 332 established the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Pilot Program to
provide grants and collect data for on-farm irrigation efficiency systems to reduce on-farm
water use while minimizing or eliminating the use of flood irrigation or fallowing.
The Fund consists of legislative appropriations, grants from federal agencies and other
approved monies and is administered by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
The Fund provides grants to farmers to buy and install approved water-efficient irrigation
systems that replace flood irrigation and are proven to save at least 20% of water used.
A grant cannot exceed $1,000,000 per applicant or $1,500 per acre of irrigable land that is
served by the on-farm irrigation efficiency system. The State Lottery Fund consists of all
revenues from the sale of lottery tickets excluding the amount designated for prize payments.
The State Lottery Fund balance is annually reduced by a series of statutory appropriations.
The distribution, sometimes known as the "lottery waterfall," is ordered to provide funding
for the lottery revenue bond debt service, then $11,368,800 for the Maricopa County
Transportation Fund, then $84,150,000 for the state General Fund (GF), followed by
$10,000,000 for the Game and Fish Heritage Fund, $26,049,200 for health and welfare
programs in fiscal year 2025 (annually adjusted for inflation), $1,000,000 for homeless
shelters, a further $15,490,000 for the state GF, $3,500,000 for the Arizona Competes Fund,
followed by up to 80% of university capital improvement debt service costs and, finally, the
remaining balance is deposited into the state GF (A.R.S. §§ 5-571 and 5-572).
Provisions
1. Deposits $50,000,000 into the Fund from the State Lottery Fund in FYs 2026 and 2027.
(Sec. 1)
2. Makes conforming changes. (Sec. 1)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note