The Arizona Senate has given a big victory to the maker of Taser stun guns and police body cameras, but it may not be the quick win Axon Enterprises was banking on.
The measure now sitting on Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk would cancel an election forced by residents in Scottsdale who oppose Axon’s plan to build a new headquarters complex that will include nearly 2,000 apartments and a hotel.
The apartments are the big issue.
But it also shows the Legislature is willing to again overrule local control anywhere in the state if they consider the stakes or issue to be important enough. This particular effort might run afoul of a state constitutional ban on “special legislation” crafted to affect just one business, leading to a possible legal challenge that could hold up the whole project.
Hobbs signaled after the Senate gave final approval to the measure on a 17-12 vote Tuesday that she backs Axon. The bill was prompted by the homegrown company’s threats to leave the state if its new campus is blocked and by its flirtations with officials in Florida and Texas about a new home for the $43 billion firm… read more >