City of Phoenix files lawsuit against Arizona citing state constitution violation

PHOENIX - The city of Phoenix is accusing the state of Arizona of violating the state's constitution and filed a lawsuit with the Superior Court, the city said in a news release on Tuesday.

The city alleges state lawmakers, "illegally folded dozens of provisions into a state budget bill, a violation of the State's constitution."

Adding, "Budget bills have to be about the budget and substantive, general legislation has to be about one subject at a time. This ensures that proposed laws are debated and voted on only with other provisions that relate to them — rather than buried among countless other provisions."

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego says this year's budget "illegally limits cities' abilities to serve our communities and undermines the legislative process."

The lawsuit alleges lawmakers violated state law when it passed HB2893, which is titled "criminal justice; budget reconciliation."

The city says, "The bill in question is supposed to be about reconciliation of the 'Criminal Justice' provisions of the budget. But it covers a hodgepodge of topics impacting at least 10 different state agencies and addresses diverse topics from an emergency ‘readiness center’ to disputes on water rights."

The bill also reportedly has a provision that could impact how the city supervises the police department, as well as the city's new Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT).

"The suit seeks the court to rule the Legislature violated the Constitution and stop the bills from going into effect," the news release said.

Read the full release here.

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