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SB1222 • 2026

light rail; public monies; prohibition

SB1222 - light rail; public monies; prohibition

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
J.D. Mesnard, Frank Carroll
Last action
2026-01-21
Official status
Senate second read
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is missing from the provided official metadata and text excerpt.

SB1222: Ban on Using Public Money for Light Rail Extension

This law stops Arizona from using public money to extend light rail service in Phoenix into a specific downtown area and the land within fifty yards of it.

What This Bill Does

  • Amends state law section 28-9204 regarding the use of public funds for transportation.
  • Prohibits the use of public money to extend light rail service in Phoenix into a defined zone bounded by Ninth Avenue, Van Buren Street, Nineteenth Avenue, and Jackson Street.
  • Also bans using public money for any area or property within fifty linear yards of that specific zone.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Entities seeking to use public funds to extend light rail service in Phoenix

Terms To Know

Public monies
Funds belonging to the government.
Light rail transit system
A train service that runs on tracks in cities.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The official text does not list an effective date.
  • The law only prohibits extending light rail service; it does not mention other types of construction or repairs.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-21 Senate

    Senate second read

  2. 2026-01-20 Senate

    Senate Rules: None

  3. 2026-01-20 Senate

    Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology: None

  4. 2026-01-20 Senate

    Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1222 - light rail; public monies; prohibition

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SB1222 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
light rail; public monies; prohibition

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1222

Introduced by

Senators
Mesnard: Carroll

AN
ACT

Amending section 28-9204, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to light rail transit system.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 28-9204, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
28-9204.

Public monies; prohibition

Notwithstanding any other law, public monies may not be used to
extend light rail service in Phoenix to:

1. The area with a boundary of
seventeenth

ninth
avenue on the east,
Adams

Van Buren
street on the north,
eighteenth

nineteenth
avenue on the west and
Jefferson

Jackson
street on the south.

2. Any
area or
property
, including the streets described in paragraph 1 of this section,

that is within fifty linear yards of the area described in paragraph 1 of this
section.
END_STATUTE