Sen. Shawnna Bolick’s proposed strike-everything amendment to HB 2400, announced on March 23, 2026, appears to be a “hail Mary-esque” response to the drastic rise in gas prices impacting Arizonans. The amendment would require the state to pursue an emergency fuel waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during supply disruptions. Bolick’s move appears to be a direct political response, especially in light of Arizona’s upcoming annual summer fuel squeeze. It recasts a House bill originally written as a seasonal motor fuel tax holiday into a supply-and-regulatory response bill. The committee agenda for March 25, 2026, confirms that a strike-everything amendment may be offered on HB 2400 under the subject line “emergency fuel waiver; petition; requirement.” 

That matters because the Senate GOP press release is making two arguments at once. First, it argues Arizona is exposed because Maricopa County’s summer Cleaner Burning Gasoline requirements narrow supply options just as refinery closures and seasonal demand tighten the market. Second, it argues that the state needs a statutory trigger requiring the governor or a state agency to seek immediate relief from the EPA when shortages occur. In that sense, Bolick’s amendment is not just about fuel policy; it is also about shifting initiative away from executive discretion and into a legislative mandate. 

But the press release appears to overstate the simplicity of the fix. EPA waiver authority exists, yet federal law sets a high bar: the agency must find “extreme and unusual” supply circumstances tied to events such as refinery or pipeline failures, and any waiver must be narrowly tailored and temporary. EPA’s own guidance describes waivers as emergency tools for supply disruptions, not a standing mechanism for routine price relief. So even if Bolick’s amendment passes, Arizona would still need on-the-ground facts strong enough to satisfy the EPA and the Department of Energy. 

The release’s swipe at Gov. Katie Hobbs is also more complicated than the caucus suggests. Senate Republicans said Hobbs “refused” to request a waiver in 2023, but EPA records show Arizona did seek a waiver on Aug. 31, 2023, through ADEQ Director Karen Peters, and EPA granted it that September. A second waiver request on Sept. 21, 2023, also prompted an EPA response. The more durable Republican argument, then, is not that waivers were never sought, but that lawmakers want them pursued earlier and more automatically when warning signs appear. 

So the real test for Bolick’s amendment is whether it becomes a practical early-warning mandate or simply a sharper political message wrapped around a bill that has not yet been formally adopted. As of March 24, 2026, HB 2400 had been withdrawn from the Senate Natural Resources committee and reassigned to a March 25, 2026, hearing in Bolick’s committee, leaving the amendment active but as yet unresolved.