House committee advances initiative reform bills with bipartisan support

The Arizona House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee on Wednesday advanced two measures designed to bring greater transparency, consistency, and voter clarity to Arizona’s local initiative process.

House Bill 4115, sponsored by Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear), passed on a bipartisan 5-2 vote.

The bill’s proponents, who include a broad coalition of the Arizona business community including the Arizona Restaurant Association, Greater Phoenix Chamber, Valley Partnership, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and local chambers of commerce across the state, say the bill ensures greater accountability in the way local ballot measures are circulated and presented to voters.

In addition, HCR 2051, sponsored by House Majority Leader Michael Carbone (R-Buckeye), passed the committee on a 4-3 vote. If approved by the Legislature, HCR 2051 would send the same reforms contained in the Montenegro bill to the November ballot.

Together, the measures reflect a growing recognition among lawmakers that while Arizona’s initiative process is a powerful and important constitutional tool, it must operate with transparency, fairness, and clear information for voters.

“Most of what the bill and referral do are already in place for statewide ballot measures,” Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry Executive Vice President Courtney Coolidge said. “But out-of-state activists know there are relatively few guardrails around the initiative process at a local level. We’re attempting to fix that to ensure both state and local initiative processes are equally rigorous.”

Bringing parity and transparency to the process

Supporters of the legislation note that the reforms are aimed at improving disclosure, strengthening voter awareness, and ensuring consistent standards for paid petition circulators, particularly in cases where ballot measures would mandate new government spending or impose significant fiscal impacts on taxpayers.

The measures seek to:

• Establish consistent rules and accountability standards for paid petition circulators.
• Improve disclosure requirements for initiatives that mandate new government spending.
• Ensure voters receive clear, accurate information before signing petitions or casting ballots.
• Promote parity between state and local initiative requirements.

Proponents argue that these changes do not diminish the initiative process but instead protect it by reinforcing public trust and transparency.

“Arizona’s initiative process is a powerful tool, and it should be driven by Arizona residents with transparency and accountability,” said Danny Seiden, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “These bills contain commonsense reforms that protect the integrity of the ballot, ensure voters know who is behind an initiative, and provide clearer information about proposals that would require new taxpayer-funded spending.” 

Broad support

Coolidge said the 5-2 bipartisan vote on HB 4115 underscores support from members on both sides of the aisle for strengthening disclosure and accountability in the initiative system.

“We’re hopeful that members of both parties will continue to support these bills as they make their way through the process,” she said. “Without these reforms, communities across the state—big and small, urban and rural—are at risk of having their economic development strategy sidelined by out-of-state activists focused more on advancing a narrow political agenda than on creating jobs here in Arizona.”

During testimony in committee, Montenegro and Coolidge pointed to polling conducted by the firm Cygnal in December 2025 that found that 90% of Arizonans believe ballot initiatives should be driven by Arizona residents, not out-of-state organizations, while 84% support requiring paid circulators to wear visible badges that include their name and home state. Additionally, 80% of voters support requiring initiatives that mandate new government spending to identify a funding source, and 70% support greater parity between state and local initiative processes.  Companion legislation in the Senate, SB 1489, sponsored by state Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) will be heard on Friday by the Judiciary and Elections Committee.