Push to divide Maricopa County defeated at Arizona State Capitol

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A push to divide Maricopa County was soundly defeated Tuesday in the state Senate.

By a bipartisan vote of 12-18, lawmakers rejected a proposal to split the state’s largest county into four smaller parts. The bill’s prime sponsor Senator Jake Hoffman, a Republican from Queen Creek, argued to the county had grown too large to be effectively managed. He has also said that smaller counties would be more accountable and responsive to the voters and the people who live there.

Some of his “small government” GOP colleagues argued that the proposed division that would create a smaller Maricopa County and three new counties would only expand government bureaucracy. “I will not vote for something that grows government this much I’ve offered solutions that meet the same goals,” Senator Steve Kaiser, a Republican from Mesa, said before voting against the bill. “They’ve been rejected.”

This doesn’t appear to be the end of the story, however. Hoffman said he plans to bring back the bill next year.

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