Arizona consumer-protection agency to disappear next year

It’s the state agency that makes sure you’re getting a full gallon of gas at the pump and that you’re not getting scammed by a moving company or meat cutter charging by the pound.

But next year, the state Department of Weights and Measures won’t exist. The Arizona Legislature passed a late-session bill to ax the department and reassign its duties to other state agencies.

Gov. Doug Ducey pushed for the law, running on the promise of trimming bureaucracy and busting big government.

That philosophy isn’t universally popular, and some legislators say they worry that the important duties of the Department of Weights and Measures will fall by the wayside when they get swallowed up by other agencies.

Senate Minority Whip Martín Quezada said the department was one of the few that “actually worked well,” and he was surprised by the desire to eliminate it.

The department, which also licenses taxis and other vehicles for hire, is efficient at handling complaints and always provides hands-on attention to customers, Quezada said. He fears that attention will fade when the department’s duties are reassigned next year.

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“It’s really a shame, because I think ultimately only the public is going to suffer because of it,” Quezada said.

The law had a key advocate: The newly appointed director, who pushed to dismantle the department.

Former House Speaker Andy Tobin, who will lose his job when the department disappears next year, was appointed director in January. Ducey fired the previous director following controversy about enforcement actions against ride-share operators such as Uber and Lyft.

Ducey ended those actions and prompted the Legislature to ease regulation of ride-share operators. Tobin said it was these moves that helped fuel a discussion about what other regulations could be tightened.

The ideas came in “little puffs of light,” Tobin said.

Department employees were encouraged to submit suggestions on how to cut fat from the department, Tobin said. Within months, they had changed the way taxis and limousines are licensed, moving the process completely online.

And when the idea was presented to eliminate the overhead costs of running a department, it made sense, Tobin said.

The new law moves vehicle-for-hire licensing to the Department of Transportation and folds the rest of the department’s responsibilities into the Department of Agriculture.

“I think a lot of people will agree that as long as we’re showing that consumers are protected, we’re being more efficient, then that’s OK,” Tobin said.

The deadline for the shift is July 1, 2016, but Tobin said they’re not wasting any time getting the ball in motion. Three employees will move to ADOT Aug. 1.

Yasmine Lopez, one of those employees, oversees the vehicle-for-hire program. She said the move to ADOT will help streamline her duties.

“At first everyone was nervous, like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on with the department?’ ” she said.

But now that she’s learned more, she said, “It seems like it’s for the better.”

ADOT spokesman Ryan Harding said in an e-mail that ADOT is working closely with Weights and Measures to “ensure we have all of the necessary processes, forms and personnel in place.”

The Department of Agriculture hasn’t set a date for the transition yet, but Director Mark Killian said he expects the transition to be “very easy” and that his department is aware of the important duties it will be taking on.

“We’re very sensitive to what Weights and Measures does because a lot of what it does impacts agriculture — big time,” Killian said.

Thirty-six states, including Arizona, house weights-and-measures regulation under their departments of agriculture, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The remaining states typically assign the regulatory duties to other state agencies, such as commerce or labor departments.

Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s spokesman, said the goal of the transition is to help business while still protecting consumers.

“He’s (Ducey) said all along, if there’s areas where we have duplication throughout government where we can better utilize taxpayer resources to do more and to do things in a way that responds to 21st-century demands, then we’re going to do that,” Scarpinato said. “So he’s satisfied with the plan in place.”

Quezada said he doesn’t see how this will help business. He suggested the law was just an attempt to fulfill a campaign promise.

“He (Ducey) looked around for the first agency that he could find that he could eliminate, and he eliminated it,” Quezada said. “He didn’t stop to think about whether it was working well, he didn’t stop to think about how this would affect consumers or how it would affect the rest of state government. He just eliminated it so he could go out and say ‘I made government smaller.’ ”

But Tobin said there really hasn’t been any drama over reorganizing the department’s responsibilities.

“That never occurred, it was never our intention,” he said. “Our intention was to help make Arizona more business-friendly.”

The Department of Weights and Measures regulates:

• Gas pumps

• By-the-pound moving companies

• Grocery store scales

• Commercial water dispensers

• Limos

• Taxis

• Ride-share companies

• Pawn-shop scales

• Auction scales