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Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

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SB1222 • 2026

light rail; public monies; prohibition

SB1222 - light rail; public monies; prohibition

Taxes
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 official source material does not provide specific details about enforcement mechanisms or penalties.

No Public Money for Light Rail Extension

This bill stops public money from being used to extend light rail service into specific areas of Phoenix.

What This Bill Does

  • It changes a law about using public money for light rail extensions.
  • It says that no public money can be used to expand light rail service into specific parts of Phoenix.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who work on or support the light rail project in Phoenix.
  • Taxpayers and government agencies that fund transportation projects.

Terms To Know

Public monies
Money from taxes or other public funds used by the government.
Light rail transit system
A type of train service that runs on city streets and carries many people.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what will happen to existing light rail projects in the affected areas.
  • It is unclear how this law will be enforced or if there are any penalties for breaking it.

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