The Arizona Legislature passed 388 bills during the 2016 legislative session, 374 were signed into law.
A majority of those enactments will take effect this Saturday, August 6 – excluding more than a dozen that went into effect immediately under an emergency clause, and a handful of others that will not take effect until 2017.
The new laws include:
The crony capitalist bill of all time is appropriately HB 2666. This bill establishes the Office of Economic Opportunity. It consolidates power under Governor Doug Ducey and benefit the well connected. The office will use real-time data to analyze how Arizona fares against other states, identify ways to drive down regulatory and tax burdens, and develop a statewide workforce plan that aligns with Arizona’s economic development priorities.
•SB 1350 – Eliminates red tape for home sharing platforms, like Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO, allowing entrepreneurs to share their homes with tourists.
•SB 1524 – Provides broad regulatory protection to the sharing economy as well as any new business model or industry by prohibiting the state, municipalities and counties from taking any new action to increase regulatory burdens unless there is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public.
•HB 2452 – Removes the “grandmother penalty” to ensure that grandparents aren’t being financially punished for doing the right thing and taking care of their grandchild. This ensures kids and caregivers have the resources they need in the absence of parents.
•HB 2613 – State licensure is the most restrictive regulation on individuals looking to earn an honest living. Licenses should only be required when they are truly designed to protect the public health and safety. With HB 2613, Arizona has started the process of chipping away at unnecessary licensing regulations.
•SB 1283 – Targets “doctor shopping” by requiring physicians in Arizona to access and update the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program (CSPMP) database before prescribing a controlled substance to a patient.
•HB 2355 – Allows a pharmacist to give Naloxone without a prescription to a family member or community member in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose. This life-saving tool gives family members a chance to save a loved one’s life.