Arizona State Representative Leo Biasiucci has introduced a proposal to change how state trust lands are managed in Arizona. The plan would replace the current system, where a single statewide land commissioner makes decisions, with locally elected county officials responsible for determining the “highest and best use” of state trust lands.
The State Land Department is currently tasked with managing these lands for the benefit of groups such as K–12 public schools. Biasiucci argued that concentrating decision-making power in one official often leads to choices that do not reflect local needs.
“We’ve seen massive wind turbines in Navajo and Apache counties, thousands of acres of solar farms in Pinal County, and valuable shoreline auctions in Mohave County,” Representative Biasiucci said. “Those decisions may or may not have been right—but they should not be made by a single, unelected bureaucrat in Maricopa County, disconnected from the rural communities these decisions impact.”
House Bill 2913 would give each county its own elected land commissioner to decide how state trust land is used within their area. For example, Mohave County’s land commissioner would make decisions for Mohave County, while Coconino and Cochise counties would have their own commissioners making similar choices.
“If we want to ensure decisions truly reflect highest and best use, they should be made by officials who understand local priorities and impacts,” Biasiucci said. “Local accountability matters. That’s why I’m proposing to eliminate the centralized authority and place it in the hands of locally elected officials.”
This proposal comes at a time when the State Land Department is under review ahead of its required legislative reauthorization in 2026. Lawmakers have expressed concerns following a negative performance audit, an unsatisfactory special hearing, and a poor recommendation from the Committee of Reference about whether the department should continue operating as it does now.
“Neither the Arizona Constitution nor the Enabling Act requires highest and best use determinations to be made by a single individual,” he said. “The Legislature has full authority to decide who exercises this power. We can choose to put it with officials who live and work alongside these lands every day.”
Leo Biasiucci serves Legislative District 30 as a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives and chairs the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Carbone, also a Republican representative, was elected to represent Arizona’s 25th House District in 2023 after Michelle Udall.
