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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
appropriation; coal-impact workforce study
Purpose
Appropriates $600,000 from the state General Fund (state GF) in FY 2026 to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to conduct a workforce development study on the communities in Coconino County impacted by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station. Establishes the Study Committee on Coal Impacted Communities (Study Committee).
Background
The Navajo Generating Station was a coal-fired power plant located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in northern Coconino County operated from January 1971 to December 2019, and was demolished in December 2020. The Navajo Generating Station provided 2,250 megawatts of power through three generating units, to customers in Arizona, Nevada and California, while also providing electricity used to operate the Central Arizona Project (NGS).
OEO is responsible for coordinating workforce development strategy and evaluation, monitoring the state's tax and regulatory competitiveness, and producing labor market, economic and demographic research and analysis (A.R.S ยง 41-5303).
S.B. 1571 appropriates $600,000 from the state GF in FY 2026 to the OEO.
Provisions
1. Appropriates $600,000 from the state GF in FY 2026 to the OEO to conduct a workforce development study on the communities in Coconino County impacted by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station.
2. Establishes the Study Committee consisting of:
a) two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate that are from different parties;
b) two members appointed by the Speaker of House of Representatives that are from different parties;
c) one member appointed by the President of the Senate that represents a nonprofit organization that provides food security, entrepreneurship, youth leadership and housing to a community impacted by coal;
d) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives that represents a nonprofit organization that works to protect the water of Black Mesa and to bring power back to Indigenous communities impacted by coal;
e) one member appointed by the President of the Senate that represents the Navajo Nation economic development division;
f) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives that represents a public university in the state that has a program that supports communities impacted by an energy transition that includes communities where fossil energy is being related and new energy is being developed; and
g) one member of the Coconino Board of Supervisors appointed by the President of the Senate that represents the supervisorial district where the Navajo Generating Station operated.
3. Requires the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives to each appoint a co-chairperson.
4. Requires the Study Committee to meet as often as the Co-Chairpersons deem necessary and investigate and analyze the social and economic effects on communities heavily reliant on the coal industry with a focus on developing strategies to mitigate impacts and support economic diversification in those communities.
5. Allows the Study Committee to use the services of legislative staff to provide necessary administrative and operational support.
6. Requires a state agency or a political subdivision, on the request of the Study Committee, to provide the Study Committee with services, equipment, documents, personnel and facilities to the extent possible at not cost to the Study Committee.
7. Requires the Study Committee, by January 1, 2026, to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and provide a copy to the Secretary of State.
8. Repeals the Study Committee on September 30, 2026.
9. Exempts the appropriation from lapsing.
10. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Establishes the Study Committee and prescribes the membership, powers and duties of the Study Committee.
2. Repeals the Study Committee on September 30, 2026.
Amendments Adopted by the Committee of the Whole
1. Requires the President of the Senate to appoint both Senate members to the Study Committee, rather than the Senate Minority Leader appointing one member, and requires the two members to be from different parties.
2. Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint both House of Representatives members to the Study Committee, rather than the House of Representatives Minority Leader appointing one member and requires the two members to be from different parties.
3. Requires the President of the Senate, rather than the Senate Minority Leader, to appoint a member who represents the Navajo Nation economic development Division to the Study Committee.
4. Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives, rather than the House of Representatives Minority Leader, to appoint a member that represents a public university in the state to the Study Committee.
5. Requires the President of the Senate to appoint a member of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors that represents the supervisorial district where the Navajo Generating Station operated to the Study Committee.
6. Makes conforming changes.
Senate Action
APPROP 2/25/25 DPA 9-1-0
Prepared by Senate Research
March 6, 2025
LMM/JP/ci/slp