PHOENIX — Despite broad support for public transportation, Arizona lawmakers leave funding up to local governments.

The Legislature’s Republican majority doesn’t support state funding for transit, saying the use of state dollars would take money away from rural areas.

“What do we tell the people in all the rural areas, which is the whole state other than, you know, Flagstaff, Phoenix, the Phoenix metro area and Tucson?” Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh said. “I mean, what do we give them? What do we say about their transportation needs?”

Kavanagh, who represents Legislative District 3, told ABC15 that areas that use public transportation should be the ones to pay for it.

“To the extent that we spend transportation money in a particular city’s mass transit, [that] is less money for the state road system, which most people use,” he said.

Public transit is one of the fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats at the state Capitol.

“I feel as though we will not see a change in priorities as long as Republicans continue to be in the majority in the Senate and the House,” state Sen. Analise Ortiz told ABC15.

Ortiz, a Democrat who represents Legislative District 24, said everyone benefits from public transportation.

“As we grow as a state, we need to be smarter about how we are building our cities, and we should be investing in public transit so it’s easier for people to get around,” she said.

Why Maricopa County can’t go to voters

Maricopa County voters have backed public transit numerous times, passing a 20-year extension of the half-cent sales tax for transportation in 2024 and voting four separate times to support light rail.

“The people support public transportation,” said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “I don’t understand why the majority of the legislators don’t.”

But Maricopa County can’t just go to voters to ask for more public transit dollars. State law requires the county to get lawmaker approval before asking voters for a transportation tax.

“Maricopa County is the only county that has to go through the Legislature to get permission to go to the voters,” Bahr said, calling it “a ridiculous provision.”

She said lawmakers keep erecting roadblocks to public transit.

“It really helps people who are on low or limited incomes or who otherwise can’t drive,” she said.

GOP opposition killed light rail extension to Capitol

The Phoenix City Council earlier this year nixed a proposed extension of light rail to the state Capitol, voting instead to focus on expanding into west Phoenix via Indian School Road.

The decision came after Republican lawmakers, whose approval the city would have needed, introduced legislation to block the expansion.

Kavanagh is moving ahead with legislation to require the state to study the feasibility of light rail, which he said doesn’t suit Arizona.

“Light rail is designed more for densely populated metropolitan areas where a lot of people live near the line,” he said.

The study would look at electric autonomous buses, which Kavanagh says could be an alternative that’s much cheaper, more flexible and less disruptive to local businesses.

When asked what he would say to people who think lawmakers should fund more public transit options, Kavanagh replied: “Not my job.”

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