County Islands Change of Direction

The AZ Republic has an article today about a bill that just passed the state Senate on the county island/fire protection issue:

The debate over a municipality providing fire and emergency services to unincorporated areas has spread from Gilbert to the Capitol and now is before the governor.

A bill from Rep. Andy Biggs requiring Gilbert to provide fire service to county islands within the town passed the state Senate by a wide bipartisan margin Monday, and the measure is now on Gov. Janet Napolitano's desk.

The Senate voted 22-5 in favor of the measure Monday, and it cleared the House 44-12 last week. Napolitano has five days to act on the bill.

You can read the rest of the article for the reactions from those involved in the process. This is a fairly sudden shift of momentum; it appeared that the islands were on the path to annexation or providing funds for their fire coverage. It is ironic that Andy Biggs introduced the bill, since he lives in a county island - very near Higley Groves West, as a matter of fact, at Elliot and Greenfield - and the paper neglects to mention that fact. It seems like a conflict of interest to my untrained eye. If the Governor signs it, however, it becomes law, and Gilbert will be paying for the fire protection for the county islands.