Arizona county buys 3,400 acres of federal land for solar farms

What it does

The Interior Department will sell about 3,400 acres of federal land in Arizona to La Paz County. La Paz County must pay the appraised price plus all transfer costs. The county must protect Native American artifacts and work with the Colorado River Indian Tribes during ground work.

Who it affects

People in La Paz County may get jobs from solar development. The Colorado River Indian Tribes help protect their cultural sites. All Americans lose access to these 3,400 acres of public land.

One thing to notice

Once La Paz County owns the land, federal rules no longer apply. The bill does not say how the sale money will be used.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.

• Feb 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Apr 9, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Apr 9, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
• Jul 21, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3498-3499)”
• Jul 21, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Gosar moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
• Dec 16, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S8766-8768)”
• Dec 18, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Dec 29, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-68”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $30,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 7 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.

Paul Gosar, who sponsored the bill, received $87,570 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• La Paz County, Arizona — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• federal land — Land owned by the U.S. government that all Americans can use.
• appraised price — The price an expert says the land is worth.
• Native American artifacts — Objects made by Native American tribes with historical or spiritual meaning.
• Interior Department — The federal agency that manages public lands and natural resources.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.