Official Summary Text
SB1054 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
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PASSED BY COW
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1054
municipal; county; measures; standing
(
NOW: municipalities; emergency measures; vote
)
Purpose
Subjects
an ordinance, resolution or other measure that is an emergency measure adopted
by a city or town council to a referendum in the same manner as provided for a
nonemergency ordinance, resolution and other measure.
Background
The
Arizona Constitution grants the people the power to: 1) propose laws and
amendments to the Constitution; 2) enact or reject laws and amendments at the
polls, independent of the Legislature; and 3) approve or reject any item,
section or part of any act of the Legislature at the polls. Under the
referendum power, five percent of the qualified electors may order the
submission to the people at the polls any measure, item or section or part of
any measure enacted by the Legislature, except laws immediately necessary for
the preservation of the public peace, health or safety, or for the support and
maintenance of the departments of the state government and state institutions.
The referendum power is further reserved to the qualified electors of every
incorporated city, town and county and requires 10 percent of the electors of
the city, town or county to propose a referendum (
Ariz.
Const. art. 4 pt. 1, � 1
).
The
number of electors required for a city or town to file a referendum petition
against an ordinance, franchise or resolution is computed based on the whole
number of votes cast at the last citywide or townwide election at which a mayor
or councilmen were chosen. A city or town ordinance, resolution or franchise
may not become operative until 30 days after the ordinance's, resolution's or
franchise's passage by the council and approval by the mayor. If a measure is
passed over the mayor's veto, the measure may not become operative until 30
days after final approval and certification by the clerk of the city or town of
the minutes of the meeting at which the action was taken, except for emergency
measures necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health or
safety of the city or town. An emergency measure may not become immediately
operative unless the emergency measure: 1) states in a separate section the
reason why the emergency measure is necessary and should become immediately
operative; 2) is approved by the affirmative vote of three-fourths of all the
members elected to the city or town council; and 3) is also approved by the
mayor (
A.R.S.
� 19-142
).
There
is no anticipated fiscal
impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1.
Subjects
an emergency measure adopted by a city or town council to a referendum in the
same manner provided for an adopted nonemergency ordinance, resolution and
other measure.
2.
Requires
a referendum petition for an emergency measure adopted by the city or town
council to be filed with the city or town clerk within 30 days after the
passage of the emergency measure.
3.
Stipulates
that if an emergency measure placed on the ballot for referendum does not
receive a majority of votes of those voting on the emergency measure, then the
measure will no longer be in effect.
4.
Makes
technical changes.
5.
Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
Amendments
Adopted by Committee
�
Adopted the strike-everything amendment.
Senate
Action
GOV�������� 2/4/26������ DPA/SE������ 4-2-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 10, 2026
AN/TR/ci
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
SB1054 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
municipal;
county; measures; standing
(now: �municipalities;
emergency measures; vote)
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1054
AN
ACT
amending SECTION 19-142, arizona
revised statutes; relating to referendum power.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 19-142, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
19-142.
Referendum petitions against municipal actions; emergency
measures; zoning actions; emergency clause; referral; definition
A. The whole number of votes cast at the citywide or
townwide election at which a mayor or councilmen were chosen last preceding the
submission of the application for a referendum petition against an ordinance,
franchise or resolution shall be the basis on which the number of electors of
the city or town required to file a referendum petition shall be
computed. For the purposes of this section, a citywide or townwide
election is an election at which all of the qualified electors of a city or
town are eligible to vote for a mayor or members of the city or town council.�
The petition shall be filed with the city or town clerk within thirty days
after passage of the ordinance, resolution or franchise.
B. A city or town ordinance, resolution or franchise
shall not become operative until thirty days after its passage by the council
and approval by the mayor, unless it is passed over the mayor's veto, and then
it shall not become operative until thirty days after final approval and until
certification by the clerk of the city or town of the minutes of the meeting at
which the action was taken, except emergency measures necessary for the
immediate preservation of the peace, health or safety of the city or town. An
emergency measure shall not become immediately operative unless it states in a
separate section the reason why it is necessary that it should become
immediately operative, and unless it is approved by the affirmative vote of
three-fourths of all the members elected to the city or town council,
taken by ayes and noes, and also approved by the mayor.
C. At the time a person or organization intending to
file a referendum petition against an ordinance or resolution applies for the
issuance of an official number pursuant to section 19-111, the city or
town clerk shall provide such person or organization with a full and correct
copy of the ordinance or resolution in the form as finally
adopted. If the copy of the ordinance or resolution proposed as a
referendum is not available to such person or organization at the time of
making application for an official number or on the same business day as the
application is submitted, the thirty-day period prescribed in subsection
A of this section begins on the day that the ordinance or resolution is
available from the city or town clerk, and the ordinance or resolution shall
not become operative until thirty days after the ordinance or resolution is
available.
D. Notwithstanding subsection C of this section, a
person or organization may file a referendum petition against the rezoning of a
parcel of property on the approval by the city or town council of the ordinance
that adopts the rezoning or on the approval of that portion of the minutes of
the city or town council that includes the council's approval of the rezoning,
whichever occurs first. The
thirty day
thirty-day
period prescribed in subsection A of this
section begins on the day that the rezoning ordinance or approved minutes or
portion of the approved minutes are available from the city or town clerk and
the ordinance is not operative until thirty days after the ordinance or minutes
are available.
e. Notwithstanding any other law, an
ordinance, resolution or other measure that is adopted by the city or town
council as an emergency measure is subject to a referendum in the same manner
provided for an adopted nonemergency ordinance, resolution or other
measure. A referendum petition shall be filed with the city or town
clerk within thirty days after passage of the ordinance, resolution or other
measure that is adopted by the city or town council as an emergency
measure. If an ordinance, resolution or other measure that is
adopted as an emergency measure and that is placed on the ballot does not
receive a majority of the votes of those voting on the ordinance, resolution or
other measure adopted as an emergency measure, the measure that was adopted as
the emergency measure will no longer be in effect.
END_STATUTE