Sun Lakes Republican Club Minutes
When: Wednesday, April 9, 2025 6:30PM-8:30PM
Where: Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room
Who: approximately 90 people
AGENDA
- Chairman Michael Tennant welcomed the guests and led us in the Invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance.
- The first speaker was AZ Legislative Senator JD Mesnard. He spoke to us about some of the bills he introduced in the legislature and answered some questions at the end. He has introduced a bill to not tax IRA’s. One of his other tax cut proposals is giving 50% of collected tax overages back to the voters rather than spending it or putting it all into the “rainy day fund”. When asked if AZ would do an audit similar to DOGE he said “Probably not, we self examine.” When asked about the $300 million plus dollars over spent by the Governor, he said Governor Hobbs had chosen to spend $100 million of that on helping people with down payments for home purchases, even though the legislature had voted NOT to spend money in that way. He said that there will be bills introduced this year to pass safeguards and barriers so that future governors cannot find ways to get around the state legislature and spend money without being authorized to do so. Meanwhile, they had to use money from another account to cover that $100 million expenditure. He has a couple of other bills in process concerning HOAs, designed to set parameters for when HOAs can foreclose on homes within the HOA. There have been cases where people have been forced out of their homes in an untimely manner. There are also cases where the HOAs have been sued, and this bankrupts the HOAs because of the expenses incurred for lawyers. There needs to be reasonable safeguards for both sides.
- The next speaker was House Representative Jeff Weninger, who said the “public safety” is a popular subject in the House of Representatives this year in regard to bills. He agreed that there need to be stronger restraints on what and how a governor can spend money. 2026 is the next election for Governor. Some discussion ensued on possible Republican candidates who may run. Also there was discussion as to how the (new) Lieutenant Governor would be elected.
- The next guest was Tyler Bowyer. Tyler Bowyer and Charly Kirk were instrumental in getting the vote out in the last Presidential election. Tyler Bowyer is a 7th Generation Arizonan and is uniquely suited to provide an historic perspective on the state of Arizona’s energy and water resources. He discussed the interplay between the jurisdiction of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Central Arizona Project Water Board, and the upcoming 2026 SRP Board Election, all of which will impact our energy rates and water rates in Sun Lakes for many years in the future. As Sun Lakes homeowners, it is critical that we become informed now to secure the future of our reliable, as well as renewable, energy sources and water rights at the lowest possible rates. Arizona will need an “all of the above” approach to have abundant, reliable energy and to avoid the mistakes that other western states have made. If we learn from the problems created by bad energy policy in other states – such as brownouts and rolling blackouts- we can avoid them here in Arizona. Tyler explained that there are seats in 2 upcoming elections that can flip the council election and the Water Board election left or right. If it flips left, there will be a change in how money is spent on water and power at SRP ie.,more green energy investments)- and this will hurt farmers and create some of the same problems plaguing California. He will keep us informed as to how to get registered to vote with SRP, when the election will be, and how to get a ballot to make our voices heard. He will also provide us with a slate of conservative candidates for whom to vote.
- Starla Kramer, our SLRC Treasurer, made an announcement about the “encore” performance of “Government Gangsters” which would be shown April 10th. The last movie night was a big success. Please stay tuned for other events coming in May and over the summer!
- The 50/50 raffle winner won $40 this month.
- The next meeting in May will focus on the financial state of our state. The main speaker will be Kimberly Yee, our State Treasurer.
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