Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs adds 3 to growing list of vetoes

But there won't be any state-imposed limits on efforts to block out the sun even a little bit, at least not in Arizona.

Nor will the state take money away from a consumer fraud fund in the Attorney General's Office to provide more cash for overtime by Department of Public Safety troopers.

And there won't be any legislatively imposed new restrictions on initiative petition circulators.

All three proposals were vetoed Friday by Gov. Katie Hobbs. In separate messages, she found each of them flawed.

One that gained a lot of interest — and comment — would have made it illegal for anyone to "intentionally inject, release or dispense'' any materials within Arizona for solar radiation management.

That's defined as the attempted modification of the atmosphere to increase reflectivity of the sun's rays to reduce the amount that reaches the ground.

And just to be sure, the measure would have spelled out that any local government or public university cannot fund such work.

HB 2042 is a variant of what has become a theory — one without scientific basis — that such efforts already are taking place, with aircraft spraying chemicals into the atmosphere.

That, according to believers, is seen as "chemtrails.'' But the scientific explanation is that the white streaks people see are vapor trails created by the heat from both propeller and jet aircraft flying at frigid high altitudes.

Strictly speaking, nothing in the measure that reached the governor's desk even mentioned the phrase "chemtrails.'' And Rep. Gail Griffin, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Water, which reviewed the proposal by Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale, told those who came to testify that she didn't want to hear anything about that.

There was one speaker who kept on topic, calling solar radiation management "one of the most controversial forms of geoengineering.''

Others, however, did not heed the request.

One speaker who said he was a doctor, said large commercial-sized jets, outfitted with special tanks, are spraying strontium, aluminum, barium and mercury at high altitudes worldwide.

Hobbs said she has no problem working with lawmakers to reduce harmful pollutants. But this, she said, is not it.

"Without the science to back up its claims, HB 2042 is a so-called solution to a non-existent problem,'' the governor wrote, saying she is "disappointed'' that lawmakers "seem to be more focused on conspiracy theories'' rather than other priorities.

HB 2993, the measure about how to provide additional funds to DPS stems from two separate issues.

One is that the agency, short of staff, has officers working overtime. The legislation would have added $6.4 million to its budget.

But the decision of where to take it is directly related to anger by Republican lawmakers to comments made by Attorney General Kris Mayes in reaction to reports of masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement attacking and killing people in Minneapolis.

She also said warned of the danger created when there are people "with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks.'' And the attorney general said that is a recipe for disaster as Arizona has a "stand your ground law'' which allows people on their own property or even in their cars to use lethal force to defend themselves if they reasonably believe they are in danger.

That drew condemnation from multiple GOP lawmakers as well as various police agencies and organizations of officers who said that this was telling people how they can get away with shooting masked officers.

So, aside from taking money from the AG's consumer fraud fund — money recovered in lawsuits against errant companies — the legislation also would have given DPS permission to hire its own lawyers rather than being dependent on the attorney general's office.

Hobbs was clearly ready for the legislation.

Two days before the veto, the governor announced she had found $1 million in savings from "operational efficiencies'' within DPS for trooper overtime. And Hobbs said there are other dollars available.

"But rather than give our state troopers the resources they need, you preferred to send me a bill that serves only as a political stunt,'' she wrote in her veto message. "Diverting funds from consumer protection programs that educate the public about scams and fraud will greatly harm everyday Arizonans.''

Hobbs also rejected a proposal to add another requirement into the initiative process: require out-of-state paid petition circulators to tell would-be signers where they are from.

Under the Arizona Constitution, the legislature shares its lawmaking power with the voters. And that allows any group that gets the requisite number of signatures to put a measure onto the ballot to create a new law or even amend the constitution itself when lawmakers refuse to act.

The hurdle, based on the number of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election, is high. It currently takes 255,949 valid signatures to propose a statutory change; a constitutional amendment needs 383,293 names to make it to the ballot.

Given that obstacle, it is not unusual for groups to hire paid circulators. And, given the number of petitions being circulated at any one time, companies that do this kind of work will bring in circulators from other states.

That has drawn criticism from business groups who have repeatedly opposed initiatives that get around what has been for years a Republican-controlled legislature. That notably includes 2006 and 2016 measure raising the state minimum wage and a 2020 proposal to impose an income tax surcharge on high-wage earners.

Courts have ruled that states cannot ban out-of-state circulators, including a 2008 decision involving Ralph Nader when he was gathering signatures in his presidential run.

So what this legislation sought to do was say that these people actually have to verbally disclose to would-be signers that the person is a paid circulator and the state in which they reside. That same information would also have had to be worn on a badge.

That is in line with arguments by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, which led the support for HB 4115, that the initiative process has been co-opted by out of state "special interests.'' Hobbs, in her veto message, turned that around.

"The initiative process is an important check by the people on both the legislative and executive branches of government,'' she wrote. "This bill undermines that process by imposing unrealistic requirements on participants and opening the door for special interests to silence voters' voices.''

The same measure also would have extended to local initiatives something already required on statewide measure: If there is a mandatory expenditures, petition signers would have to be told how that money would be raised.

In this case, the governor's veto may not be the last word.

There is a backup plan, with the House already voting to put the same language in front of voters in November. It has yet to get a hearing in the Senate.